Pavel Durov was 'too free' in his approach to running Telegram, says Russia

The Russian government said on Monday (Sept 2) that arrested Telegram founder Pavel Durov was "too free" in his approach to running the social media platform. During a speech to students at the eliteMGIMO University, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Durov did not listen to Western advice on moderating his brainchild (Telegram).

Foreign Minister Lavrov echoed the Kremlin's position that the investigation againdtDurov was part of a larger political ploy by the West to exert power over Russia.

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Russian-born Durov, 39, was arrested in France on August 24forfailing to act against illicit content on Telegram, including the exchange of child sexual imagery, drug trafficking and fraud.

'No negotiations between Kremlin and Durov'

Lavrov's remarks came nearly a week afterKremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that there were no negotiations between the Kremlin andDurov, who also holds passports from France and the United Arab Emirates.

"The main thing is that what is happening in France does not turn into political persecution," Peskov said on August 29.

"We know that the president of France has denied any connection (of the case) with politics, but on the other hand, certain accusations are being made," he added.

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Lavrov earlier warned thatDurov's arrest - the first of a major tech CEO - had plunged relations between Moscow and Paris to a new nadir.

What contributed to Durov's arrest?

Last week, an analyst told the news agency Reuters thatTelegram’s lack of engagement with governments contributed to the arrest of Durov.

‘’Telegram has famously not only just, not done any of a lot of this moderation, but they don't even engage with governments and law enforcement on it,’’ said CEO of tech policy consultancy Anchor Change, Katie Harbath.

‘’And so they kind of, in my mind, they really pushed this to the edge of the government feeling like they had no other way in which to try to hold them to account for what was happening," Harbath added.

The analyst pointed outthat Durov’s arrest was not an indication of a future trend in the arrest of social media company CEOs, but added that the heads of newer platforms may be more at risk because their platforms may have less enforcement in place.

(With inputs from agencies)