Telegram boss Pavel Durov's lawyer said on Thursday it was "absurd" to suggest he should be held responsible for any crimes committed on the app, amid growing frictions between governments and tech titans over content on their platforms, APA reports citing Reuters.
France's arrest of Durov - a first for a CEO of a major messaging platform - has sent a warning to social media bosses unwilling to tackle alleged illegality on their apps. It has also plunged French-Russia relations to fresh lows, according to Moscow, where some pro-Kremlin figures have accused Washington of being behind the detention of Russian-born Durov.
Lawyer David-Olivier Kaminski, who is representing Durov in France, said on Thursday it was "absurd to say that a platform or its boss are responsible for any abuse" carried out on the platform, and that Telegram was abiding by European laws.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who wants to position France as a technical hub, has said Durov's arrest was not politically motivated, and he reiterated this on Thursday.
"I was absolutely unaware of Mr Durov's arrival in France, and that is quite normal," Macron told a news conference in Serbia. "This is an independent action by the French justice system."
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