Telegram says CEO has ‘nothing to hide’ after being arrested in France

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov. | Getty Images

Telegram says its CEO and founder Pavel Durov has “nothing to hide” after he was arrested by French authorities outside of Paris.

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” the company says in an unnamed statement posted to its official channel in the Telegram app on Sunday. French officials have confirmed to multiple outlets that Durov was arrested as part of a police investigation into criminal activity taking place on the social network.

While not encrypted by default, Telegram’s largely hands-off approach to moderation means that the app is seen by many as a private, censorship-free alternative to other social networks. “Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of...

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