Telegram founder Pavel Durov avoided detention in France by giving Western intelligence services data on the messaging app's users, according to IT specialist Enrique Arias Gil, as reported by TASS.
Gil said Durov effectively cooperates with authorities in Western countries, passing along information about Telegram users, channels and groups.
Crimes linked to Telegram
Gil cited data from Russia's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, noting that more than 150,000 crimes committed using Telegram have been recorded in Russia since 2022. Russia's media regulator, Roskomnadzor, responded by sending Durov and his team a matching number of requests to remove banned content.
Durov has been placed on the list of terrorists and extremists maintained by Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service, known as Rosfinmonitoring.
Durov previously explained why Telegram briefly disappeared from Apple's App Store.
