Pavel Durov Stuck in France for the Long Haul

A French court won’t review Pavel Durov’s case for at least another year, according to Wired.

French prosecutor Maylis de Roeck explained that authorities decided to issue an arrest warrant after realizing how many unsolved cases had stalled due to Telegram’s refusal to cooperate. Prosecutors argue that Durov’s silence amounts to complicity.

Between 2013 and 2024, French law enforcement reportedly sent 2,460 legal requests to Telegram—none of which received a response. Telegram representatives, however, insist that Durov shouldn’t be held accountable for how people use the platform.

One of the cases involves a convicted pedophile who used Telegram to stalk minors and admitted to rape. When authorities requested Telegram to disclose the perpetrator’s identity, the company ignored the request.

If it was one, we wouldn’t think anything about Telegram. But the point is, it’s every time, for every kind of request, in every country that we ask. We’re not here to judge him right now. We’re here to ask: ‘Were you aware? Did you agree? What did you agree?’ Because it was not just once. It was thousands of times, de Roeck explained