Durov made his first statement after being arrested in France.

Pavel Durov, the founder of the popular messenger Telegram, reported an unusual incident in France. In his Telegram channel on September 5, he revealed details of a four-day interrogation by the French police that took place last month after his arrival in Paris.

"I was told that I could be personally responsible for the illegal use of Telegram by others, as the French authorities did not receive answers from Telegram," wrote Durov.

The messenger's founder expressed his surprise at the situation, noting three key points:

• Telegram has an official representative in the EU who receives and responds to EU requests.
• The French authorities had many ways to contact him for assistance.
• Standard practice involves taking legal action against the service itself, not its head.

"Using home-era laws to accuse a CEO of crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a flawed approach," Durov emphasized.

He also emphasized Telegram's readiness to defend its principles: "When Russia demanded to hand over 'encryption keys' to enable surveillance, we refused - and Telegram was banned in Russia. When Iran demanded to block the channels of peaceful protestors, we refused - and Telegram was banned in Iran."

Durov acknowledged that Telegram is not perfect, especially given the rapid growth in the number of users to 950 million. "The sharp increase in Telegram users to 950 million has led to growing pains, which have made it easier for bad actors to abuse our platform," he noted.

The Telegram founder promised significant improvements in security: "That is why I made it my personal goal to ensure a significant improvement in this regard. We have already started this process internally, and I will soon share more detailed information about our progress."

In conclusion, Durov expressed hope that "the events of August will lead to Telegram - and the social networking industry as a whole - becoming safer and stronger."