UPDATE Notes from Durov's Hearing

Pavel's first court hearing was yesterday, Thu 29-Aug-2024

via Bellum Acta News, TG

Pavel Durov says that Telegram collaborates with the DGSI in cases of terrorism

During his first court hearing yesterday, Pavel Durov argued that Telegram had helped French domestic intelligence agency DGSI in terrorism cases, reports Le Parisien, yet excluding to help police services in other types of offenses.

By infiltrating private groups […], police investigators have discovered unbearable pictures. In particular of the rape of a 4-month-old baby perpetrated in turn by two men. The video is real and the acts appear to have been committed in France. […]. Despite the extreme seriousness of the situation, Telegram reportedly did not deign to respond [to police requests] […]. Other police services [combating child abuse] agree: in recent years, Telegram has been absent whenever the courts ask it to make the slightest effort towards transparency.

Questioned at length on this subject during his police custody and again during his first appearance hearing before the investigating judge, Pavel Durov retorted, according to concordant sources, that Telegram's silence was on the contrary not systematic.

According to the billionaire [...], his company would be in the habit of collaborating with the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) in the context of anti-terrorist investigations.

As soon as human lives are at stake, Telegram would thus comply with the requests of French intelligence through a specially designed communication channel.

Pavel Durov even claims to have helped foil terrorist plots and to have participated in the intelligence work of the DGSI in the run-up to the Olympic Games.

But as he himself also admitted, Telegram would have chosen to limit its judicial cooperation to this anti-terrorist framework alone, excluding any collaboration with other police services on the pretext that the latter would use the communication channel reserved for the DGSI.