Telegram's Founder Is Not on FBI Wanted List
The Claim
The FBI has issued a warrant to arrest Telegram founder Pavel Durov.
News posted on
Emerging story
Following his arrest and release by the French police, which caused controversy online, a claim has spread on X that Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been placed on the FBI's most wanted list.
Users shared an alleged screenshot from the FBI site containing Durov’s personal information with a cautionary note that he is wanted for being complicit in the administration of a social media platform to enable laundering, and for altering documents and records intended to obstruct federal criminal investigations.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the viral claim and found it to be fake.
No Evidence That Pavel Durov Is Wanted by FBI
Searching through the names released by the FBI on their official site, Misbar’s team did not find Pavel Durov among them.
When searching for his name on the site, Pavel Durov’s profile does not appear.
Misbar’s team concluded that the viral photo of the arrest warrant is fake and was photoshopped, as no records of him could be found on the FBI wanted page on their official site.
Telegram Founder Criticizes Government After Release
After four days of detention in France, the Telegram chief was released on August 29 but was banned from leaving the country as he may face a possible trial.
Pavel Durov was arrested on August 25 at an airport north of Paris and placed under formal investigation for suspected complicity in allowing illicit transactions, drug trafficking, fraud, and the spread of child sex abuse images on his site.
After his release, Durov published a statement on Telegram saying it was surprising for him to be held responsible for crimes committed by third parties on his platform, calling the arrest a ‘misguided approach.’
In his statement, Durov admitted that sometimes it is not possible to agree with a country’s regulator on the difference between privacy and security, so the solution will be to leave that country, as is the case with Russia and Iran.
The Telegram app was banned in Russia due to Durov’s refusal to hand over user data, but the ban was reversed in 2021.
It was also banned in Iran after the refusal to block channels used by peaceful protesters.
It is worth noting that while Telegram says it moderates harmful content on its platform, including child abuse material, the app has refused to join international programs aimed at detecting and removing child abuse material online, according to the BBC.
Telegram App May Undergo Changes
According to Pavel Durov, the Russian-born tech entrepreneur, 99.999% of Telegram users have nothing to do with crimes, and only 0.001% are involved, creating a negative image for the entire platform.
Durov announced in a post on X that the app would shift from being an area of criticism to one of praise.
The changes include removing the 'people nearby' feature due to issues with bots and scammers, according to Telegram’s owner. The feature was replaced with a 'businesses nearby' option intended for legitimate businesses.
Another change involved disabling media uploads on the app’s blogging tool, Telegraph, which Durov said was being 'misused by anonymous actors.'
Language was also removed from the app’s Frequently Asked Questions page because it does not process reports about illegal content in private chats, as such chats are protected.
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