Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the Telegram instant messaging platform, has been charged by the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office with a long list of serious offenses.
The man was arrested on Saturday upon his arrival at the Le Bourget airport and taken into custody, but the exact reasons for this action remained unclear until earlier today when the law authorities in France made their case.
According to the press release, Durov is implicated in various forms of complicity related to illegal activities facilitated through the Telegram platform and will be thoroughly investigated with the involvement of France’s Centre for the Fight against Cybercrime and the Anti-Fraud National Office.
The 12 charges against Durov are summarized as follows:
- Complicity – web-mastering an online platform for enabling illegal transactions in an organized group.
- Refusal to communicate information or documents necessary for lawful interceptions.
- Complicity – possessing pornographic images of minors.
- Complicity – distributing, offering, or making available pornographic images of minors in an organized group.
- Complicity – acquiring, transporting, possessing, offering, or selling narcotic substances.
- Complicity – offering, selling, or making available tools or programs for illegal access to data systems.
- Complicity – organized fraud.
- Criminal association with a view to committing a crime or offense punishable by 5 or more years of imprisonment.
- Laundering of proceeds derived from organized crime or offenses.
- Providing cryptology services without certified declaration.
- Providing a cryptology tool without prior declaration.
- Importing a cryptology tool without prior declaration.
Durov’s custody is extended by another 96 hours, until August 28, to allow the authorities to perform a comprehensive investigation on the above.
Telegram’s “grey” status
Telegram has gained massive popularity among cybercriminals in the past couple of years, especially after several law enforcement operations that have resulted in the dismantling of large dark web platforms.
The communications platform currently serves as a hub for the distribution of various illegal materials, and its API is being abused extensively to set up command and control servers on the platform that facilitate data exfiltration for info-stealer malware, etc. There are even malware-as-a-service operations that set up bots to build custom malware payloads for paying cybercriminals.
Despite multiple calls for better moderation on the platform, Telegram has shown no signs it’s willing to put in the effort to curb illegal activity and take decisive action against it. It is characteristic of the mentality of the people behind Telegram, that in its statement about Durov’s arrest, it is mentioned that holding the owner accountable for abuse on the platform is “absurd.”
https://twitter.com/telegram/status/1827787345367834772
RestorePrivacy has previously warned about Telegram’s lack of end-to-end encryption in anything but ‘Secret Chats,’ and even there, its code and mechanisms aren’t verifiable. Also, we have noted that the platform logs sensitive user data, including IP addresses, and may share data with government agencies.
On that front, the French accused Telegram of not collaborating with Western authorities when interceptions to perform investigations were required, but there have been previous, unconfirmed reports about Telegram sharing data with the Germans and Russians.
There have been multiple cases of security experts pointing the finger at Telegram for planting backdoors on its app or allowing stealthy exfiltration of group chats that even include messages deleted years ago.
If you’re troubled by these developments and looking to jump ship, check out our list of the best secure messaging apps here.
Pidgin Messenger Listed Malicious Keylogger Plugin for Over a Month
Alex I apologize for the comments drifting into politics. Could it be anonwriter has more to say?
If it was their answers that came.
That focus on the political and ideological divisions between liberal and conservative views has no home here!
Important for my last words here as I stop replying to this sole topic.
As the people of the USA, we are economically dependent on each other union’s, that interdependence once made any secession and war-within costly and undesirable for both sides.
As recorded in history.
This sheer Red-Blue divide is more of the concept of “two Americas” if used to describe the disparities in education and economic opportunities between different regions and communities, with some areas having more resources and support than others. Seen as the cultural and overeducated elite versus a working-class population. This dichotomy is often characterized by differences in lifestyle, values, and consumption habits.
Our beloved United States encompasses various dimensions and perspectives collectively that illustrate our complexity. At its very core is the multifaceted nature of the concept, ‘union’, with the junction in the formation of a single political unit from two or more separate and independent units elected to office by our general agreement.
9o5 offline here!
Everything in life involves politics of one kind or another, from family to everything else one can think of concerning human interaction, and the politics of power is involved throughout, including politics of government.
The French goverment detainment (abduction) of Durov and breaking him down with the equivalent of an American DA wildly overcharging a defendant with the knowlege that juries convict over 90% of the time plus the defendant not financially able to hire quality counsel – politics of power – “the easy way or the hard way” by offering a plea bargain.
The French government evidently got what it wanted.
However, the commentary on this article strayed into “political comments” as defined by one commentor with this quote: “However in the light of the facts it is impossible not to see the French political arrogance and hypocrisy of the European white west.”
This is obviously a political opinion expressed by a believer in a certain political ideology, of which the objectors to comments concerning the politics of power had no objection
No further comments from me.
I think your lost or blurring the lines with “Everything in life involves politics of one kind or another” – 147gwhiz. This idea of exercising power or control over another entity, often to the extent of limiting its autonomy or freedom. Centers around human interaction that highlights the complex interplay between personal biases, emotions, and interests, and their impact on decision-making processes in various domains for self-determination. You’ve only showed the personal biases, emotions, or interests you have.
Being relatively straightforward, the contents of all prior political comments here, had dealt with the collective hive Governments roll as comprising the governing body of a political unit(s) in civic governance.
Nothing more than…impersonal decision-makings. As a valuable approach that prioritizes objectivity, detachment, and rule-based decision-making to develop and implement policies. This approach aims to ensure fairness, consistency, and objectivity in the decision-making process.
Etymology of Politics, politics originates from the Greek word “politikos,” meaning “of or relating to citizens,” derived from “polis,” meaning “city” or “state.” This etymology reflects the historical focus of politics in governance and civic affairs within a city-state or nation, and/or group of nations.
This decision-making approach to which that focuses on objective, factual information and abstract principles, rather than personal biases, emotions, or interests. Found in meaning to describe actions or states that release or restore autonomy, independence, or agency to an individual or group, often in opposition to a prior state of illegal subjugation assubjugating conditions, and traits.
I couldn’t hang with the out of context (in regard to the article) discussion of “the white west.”
It sounds like racist nonsense promulgated in part by insane, marxist academia, world economic forum, blackrock, neo trotskyists, modern devotees of gramsci, neo maoists, and various and sundry nutballs regurgitating vile stereotypes in order to inflame and divide and cause regular people to hate one another – in order to force a bankrupt ideology that can’t achieve power in any other way.
Compare the “christian nationalism” gaslighting by the far left in the US.
Well good for you. You say a lot about yourself. You do hang out there.
BY
NATO’s purpose is to ensure the collective defence and security of its member countries, promote democratic values, and safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity through a range of political and military measures.
OR
United Nations vital role to maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international conflicts.
At this time:
Nato is a joke which expects the US to carry the burden in terms of cash, personnel, fighting and dying.
The UN is a nonsensical, unfunny parody of what it was intended to be with goofy things like vile, despotic nations chairing human rights or meddling in the internal affairs of sovereign, first world nations in the most rediculous and even destructive ways.
They like to play moral indignation over one morally justified action while blatently, even selectively ignoring ethnic cleansing and genocidal religious slaughter in the near neighborhood of nations.
An unarmed contigent of girl scouts would perform better in a peace keeping role than the UN.
And, the US bankrolls the majority of the idiocy that defines the UN.
Hey don’t shoot me I’m just the piano player here in a sense!
I try to see things whole or full as I can right off. Not saying what’s right nor wrong, but addressing the full stage view. For the outline of the program at hand, to what direction it takes. As well as, relating to others views in my understanding they present logically.
You have good points that see it in this perspective of view you have. Moreless in whats wrong or needs fixed, that great – I share in some of those idea’s too!
In my full view, I had to research a term used by an early comment here. Which, reflecting back now, does seemly relate to why the United States broke away fromthe British colonial rule way back in history.
Bottomline line if its clear, anyone who has power needs at minimum to keep friends close, but enemies even closer.
There must be standards set that allow for an enforcement of who governs the officials governing the policy that’s adopted in governing over all.
See the whole comment below August 28, 2024, or starting with – basically, Who governs the officials governing?
Reply to reply…
I’m not here to “shoot” anyone, I just call it as I see it.
The enemies closer… another saying, “pat your enemy on the back until a bullet hole appears between your fingers,” quite a percentage of organized crime members are whacked by someone they trust. That might also be figuratively true in big business and particularly so in politics – so many politicians stab each other in the back by day and party together at night. That’s not to say there aren’t some who wouldn’t blatantly execute a rival or opponent in broad daylight with cameras rolling if they could get away with it.
Who governs the policies by which the governed are affected?
There could be thousands of pages written in the various ways that question might be answered.
In the US it was designed that it is by the consent of the governed at the ballot box, but that concept was attacked before the ink was dry on the constitution in 1781.
When a community organizer was stone cold broke before achieving electoral office but ends his presidency filthy rich – and became the very elitist oligarch by the very methods he still so publicly and thoroughly opposes…
A large number of politicians from modest backgrounds and of all political persuasions become inexplicably wealthy in an amazingly short periods after becoming elected to congress, including some who trash millionaires until they become millionaires themselves. Then the modified mantra becomes a rant against billionaires.
Politicians come and politicians go, but the staff advising the office hangs around forever…
Unelected bureaucracy taking powers not constitutionally granted, which defy separation of powers by doing things like creating laws by fiat, establishing investigative and prosecutorial offices and their own courts, by which the administrative branch department becomes the police, prosecutor, judge, witness and jury enforcing their own decrees…
A congress which engages in more political food fights than the North Vietnamese arguing over whether the negotiating table should be round or rectangular during the Paris peace talks, all the while ceeding their powers and responsibilties to the adminstrative branch…
Which creates the possibility of creating the king the Americans rejected in 1776
I wanted to be more vague than specific, and there is far more to this than space allows, but:
A political party, largely composed at the top by rich, elite politicians who loudly trash rich elitists, encounters a problem of their own making.
Their candidate up for re-election is obviously too
senile for the task and will be annihilated in the contest.
The RICH donars who fund nearly everything the party stands for rake back their money.
Multiple elite, current and former elected power brokers in the party give the candidate the choice of withdrawing either the easy way or the hard way, then talk about putting his face on Mt. Rushmore when he takes the easy way.
The concept is same as the Russian story of Stalin suffocating the incapacitated Lenin with a pillow, then having a taxidermist stuff Lenin in order to put Lenin on public view behind glass to be worshipped in perpetuity as a national hero.
While Stalin publicly grieved.
But the now former candidate wrecks their initial plan of bypassing the will of the voters with an open convention, by endorsing his second in command, who is just as incompetent but is a minority female, which would create a chernobyl level civil war in the party if they bypassed her.
The powers in the party denied the voters any choice not only in this drama, but also by elbowing out any in party competition in the primary by “any means necessary” and continue to do so in the general election.
A gilded age capitalist once commented that an honest politician was one that once bought stayed bought.
And, they say money is the mother’s milk of politics.
Then there’s blackmail.
Too often politicians occupy the three legged stool of money, sex and power. Get any two and the third comes around.
How to avoid blackmail made possible by the means offered and used by those who desire to be seated to milk the public cow for public or private interest?
Keep “Mr Gregarious” safely behind his zipper, take care to make money in aransparant, upright way, and stay away from bad company.
Reply – I just call it as I see it.
The Just A Man words spoke in a hypothetical imputed way, suggested by his thoughts as purely theoretical conclusions, laced with his conjectural shadows in an evil’s eyelet view. Since there is so little hard information by fact backed evidence given to the words, and he has so not furnished any proof linking a conspiracy made up of disgruntled aristocrats.
Then wherein any aristocracy of today means a systemic taxonomy of rule by the best people – foughten as the only fair fight is the one you win. As vested by a small privileged class minority consisting of people believed to be superior (as in rank, wealth, or intellect). As in directing the policies of a governmental nations rule under god. The entire democratic system organism becomes toxic to the individual and grassroots levels.
Real working class people of the US, as equaling more than half of a total sum, have the best good old-fashioned horse sense for sorting political disinformation rhetoric from a truth based in fact.
Having faith and trust in god to mollify constituency ties and see clear of the stratagem subterfuge impact that any concealment of truth allows. Not stacked lies but clear truth essential for grasping the fundamental laws and behavior of being the mature leader deserving the higest rank in the US
Liers should walk far more than a mile in the years of peoples shadows. Of who their to serve, knowing our nations strength can only be as strong as in our weakest secta.
The man is finished. That’s a long list.
France remains a member of the EU, while the UK is no longer a member after Brexit. Both countries are members of NATO and the Council of Europe.
https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2014/vol2/222469.htm
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLATs) allow generally for the exchange of evidence and information in criminal and related matters. On February 1, 2010, 27 U.S.-EU Instruments/Agreements/Protocols entered into force that either supplemented existing MLATs or created new mutual legal assistance relationships between the United States and every member of the EU.
The United States also has signed and ratified the Inter-American Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance of the Organization of American States, the United Nations Convention against Corruption, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism, and the 1988 UN Drug Convention.
The US Departments of Justice, State, and Treasury have aggressively sought to encourage foreign governments to cooperate in joint investigations of narcotics trafficking and money laundering, offering the possibility of sharing in forfeited assets. A parallel goal has been to encourage spending of these assets to improve narcotics-related law enforcement. The long term goal has been to encourage governments to improve asset forfeiture laws and procedures so they will be able to conduct investigations and prosecutions of narcotics trafficking and money laundering that includes asset forfeiture.
This could explain a lot, as Telegram has shown no signs it’s willing to put in the effort to curb illegal activity and take decisive action against it. So the French accused Telegram of not collaborating with Western authorities when interceptions to perform investigations were required.
Telegram the communications platform currently serves as a hub for the distribution of various illegal materials, and its API is being abused extensively to set up command and control servers on the platform that facilitate data exfiltration for info-stealer malware, etc. There are even malware-as-a-service operations that set up bots to build custom malware payloads for paying cybercriminals.
Falling into play, the US Department of State in cooperation with the Department of Justice to facilitate cooperation in criminal matters have encouraged governments to improve asset forfeiture laws and procedures so they will be able to conduct investigations and prosecutions of narcotics trafficking and money laundering that includes asset forfeiture. Will this be the outcome – Telegram’s asset forfeiture?
I completely agree with the last paragraph of RP’s previous stance. I remember reading that article. I like Telegram. It is arguably the best designed messaging app, aesthetically pleasing and super comfortable to use with few or many contacts and gives you the opportunity to achieve a lot with few movement. No other app feels that way. BUT the very likely of backdoor thing and closed mechanism of the source and some shady statements and conduct in the past from Telegram founders are concerning and makes it a solid reason to ditch the app in favor of more private and secure app. (my vote is absolutely not for Signal – no not at all never, but my vote goes to Threema)
However in the light of the facts it is impossible not to see the French political arrogance and hypocrisy of the European white west. Telegram is bad and facilitates comiting crimes and should be banned or whatever… All right. No objection here. But when white west europe acts as if they are holier than…. That’s just BS. and that’s a fact.
Christopher, as an aid for readers (like me), the term – White west europe was unknown.
Key Characteristics to the term:
AI answer,
-Christianity: Christianity is the dominant religion in White West Europe.
-Language: The primary languages spoken in this region are Romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese) and Germanic languages (English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian).
-Cultural Heritage: The region is characterized by a rich cultural heritage, including art, literature, music, and architecture, shaped by centuries of European history and traditions.
-Economy: White West Europe is home to some of the world’s most developed economies, with a strong focus on services, technology, and manufacturing.
“But when white west europe acts as if they are holier than….” I think I see your point – basically, Who governs the officials governing?
Where are factual empirical evidence and data in applicability to real-world problems and its ability to engage?
Where are our rights as all nations in that prioritizes an individuals freedom and autonomy over the collective as any systemic transformation in structural change?
As highlighting the need for a more global and inclusive understanding of critique and social change that include conclusions as grounded in observable and measurable facts.
A group of philosophers and social theorists who have critiques of Western dominance and imperialism, emphasizing the need for alternative epistemologies and methodologies that prioritize non-Western perspectives and experiences.
As this importance of electronic commerce for all nations has lead decolonial and postcolonial theories, highlighting the need for a more global and inclusive understanding of critique and social change.
Is it time for the framework of a Global Ethics and Governance plan, providing a global resource for policymakers, regulators, academics, the private sector and civil society to find solutions to the most pressing challenges posed by ecommerce and the fact of Artificial Intelligence is here…with an ever-rising digital flux to technology.
thanks
I’m willing to bet, despite all the conspiracy theories, there is some truth to the allegations. However, as we all [should] know, it’s not what you know, iot’s what you can prove.