The head of Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been charged by the French judiciary for allegedly allowing criminal activity on the messaging app but avoided jail with a €5m bail.

The Russian-born multi-billionaire, who has French citizenship, was granted release on condition that he report to a police station twice a week and remain in France, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.

The charges against Durov include complicity in the spread of sexual images of children and a litany of other alleged violations on the messaging app.

His surprise arrest has put a spotlight on the criminal liability of Telegram, the popular app with around 1 billion users, and has sparked debate over free speech and government censorship.

    • MeetInPotatoes@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      You’re toeing this weird line between trying to act cool about the honest mistake (editing the post) while also acting like a lil removed that needed to overcompensate for the mistake. (lame mom jokes)

      You do you and all, but man that’s fragile!! Most people would’ve just laughed and said “whoops!”