Durov denied statements by the French media about Telegram's failure to comply with EU rules

The Telegram messenger has always faithfully complied with the laws of the European Union (EU). This was announced on April 17 by the founder of the messenger and businessman Pavel Durov.

This is how he commented on the statement of the French TV channel BFMTV, that only after the charges were brought, Telegram began to comply with European legislation.

"Yesterday, a French newspaper said that my detention in France last summer had "finally" forced Telegram to comply with European rules. That's a lie. Telegram has always complied with EU laws," he wrote on his Telegram channel page.

At the same time, Durov clarified that it was the French police who began to comply with the laws of the European Union after "ignoring" and sending requests to Telegram in a legitimate way. As a result, French courts could obtain the IP addresses of criminal suspects from the social network.

In addition, the entrepreneur recalled that Telegram is currently the second most popular messaging application in the world, so millions of dollars are spent annually on providing the program, in particular, developers begin to prepare in advance to comply with the laws of certain countries.

Earlier, on January 17, Durov told the judges in France about his intention to improve the moderation of the messenger. According to some media reports, despite Durov's measures, the use of Telegram by criminals has only increased.

In August 2024, Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport in Paris. He was charged with a number of crimes, including drug distribution, crimes against children, money laundering and fraud. At the same time, he was released from custody on his own recognizance and bail in the amount of € 5 million. During the investigation, the court seized his passports and ordered him to live in Paris at a specific address.

The France-Presse news agency reported on March 15 that Durov had left France and traveled to Dubai with court permission for a while.