Telegram Founder Promises French Court He Will Strengthen Censorship Program

Pavel Durov

Now that people are aware of Chinese apps, they are going to start migrating off of these spying and censorship apps controlled by the West.

Until all the Chinese apps get banned.

RT:

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has pledged to strengthen moderation efforts on his social media platform, speaking before a French court on Friday, according to Franceinfo.

The Russian tech mogul, who also holds citizenship in France, the UAE, and St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested in Paris in August 2024. The French authorities charged him with over a dozen offenses related to illegal content on Telegram, including complicity in the distribution of child pornography and enabling drug trafficking, among other allegations.

Durov was eventually released on bail of €5 million ($5.15 million), but was prohibited from leaving France and required to report to local police twice a week.

During Friday’s hearing, Durov told the court that Telegram is committed to “improving its moderation procedures,” Franceinfo reported. He explained that the platform deletes “between 15 and 20 million user accounts for breaking the law” each month and argued that Telegram is not alone in facing these challenges.

…

When the judges pointed out that many of these moderation initiatives were launched after his arrest in August, Durov said that only at that point was he made “aware of the seriousness of all these facts.”

Durov further stated that Telegram has increased cooperation with the authorities worldwide to combat illegal activity. Over the past six months, the platform has provided user data from approximately 10,000 accounts to law enforcement agencies globally.

See: Following CEO’s Arrest in France, Telegram Censor Speech, Hand Over Data

Durov didn’t want to do this. They kidnapped him and forced him to do it.

Nonetheless, the company is going to be useless.

The reason it was big in the first place is that they allowed so much more freedom than Twitter or Facebook.

If they’re going to censor just as much, there is no reason to use the app.