Telegram founder Pavel Durov slams French case as ‘absurd’

Pavel Durov, the founding billionaire of Telegram, criticized the French authorities on Sunday, August 24, on what he described as a baseless criminal investigation which left him equally in legal proceedings for more than a year.

Durov, who was granted temporary authorization to leave the country for Dubai in March, faces Multiple accusations related to allegations that Telegram has enabled organized crime. In a statement published on Sunday, he argued that the holding of a CEO responsible for user actions on a global messaging platform establishes a dangerous precedent.

“The cessation of a CEO of a major platform on the actions of its users was not only unprecedented – it was legally and logically absurd”, Durov said.

According to Durov, French police committed “an error” by not following the appropriate legal channels before August 2024 when submitting user data requests. He said that the company had always responded to each legally restrictive request and maintains moderation practices in accordance with industry standards.

Durov said he was still required to return to France every 14 days, without any fixed call date.

“Unfortunately, the only result of my arrest so far has been massive damage like France as a free country,” he said.

The case against Durov highlights the growing tension between the police and the technological platforms on the responsibility of online content, especially since the governments of the whole world intensify their examination of social media and messaging services.

This is not the first time that Durov has criticized the French authorities.

In September, he replied to his legal problems in France by criticizing the authorities for bypassing the official channels of the EU and questioning it directly. He called for the holding of a CEO responsible for user crimes a “erroneous approach”, especially in obsolete laws.

Durov defended Telegram’s moderation efforts, noting its daily deletion of harmful content and cooperation with NGOs, while reaffirming its commitment to nearly a billion users of the platform.

While the case continues, questions remain as to whether the legal battles will affect Telegram operations or the value of its crypto initiatives.

How to fuel the vision of Telegram blockchain

TONTOOIN (TONNE), the digital token linked to the Telegram’s Telegram Open Network (tone), is currently down 6.4% in the last seven days. See the table below.

The tone token, currently estimated at $ 3.30, is down 60% compared to its $ 8.25 summit. However, the play is considered an integral part of the Telegram blockchain initiatives.

Originally created by Telegram and now maintained by the Tone Foundation, the token is designed to share, like Durov once Put it: “The principles of decentralization launched by Bitcoin and Ethereum, but … much higher than their speed and their scalability.”

Basically, your payments between peers. Users can transfer funds quickly and at a minimum cost, a feature that agrees with the thrust of the platform to integrate tone directly into its messaging application. In cats, users can already send the token to friends, advice creators or paying services, highlighting the role of Telegram as a distribution channel ready for the adoption of cryptography.

Beyond payments, it also secures the proof of launching thanks to the features of Validateurs, supports DEFI applications, NFT markets and games, and feeds services like Tone DNS and decentralized storage.

The Telegram user base is around 1 billion monthly active users In July 2025.