A Reuters press release informs of the arrest in France of Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of Telegram, with dual Russian and French citizenship. According to TF1, the reason for the arrest is the lack of content moderation, the failure to cooperate with law enforcement and the type of ‘tools’ -such as cryptocurrencies and disposable phone numbers- freely available on the platform. The French investigators considered that in doing so, Durov did not merely ‘fail to control’ but was a real accomplice in the commission of the crimes. Since we do not have access to the case file of this affair, and therefore do not know whether there are indications of Durov’s involvement in specific acts, it is not possible to say more on the merits. However, this case does allow for some more general reflections on the subject of Big Tech’s liability for the way it designs devices and services that control our existence. by Andrea Monti – Initially published in Italian by Strategikon – Italian Tech La Repubblica
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