French authorities issue preliminary charges against Telegram messaging app CEO [Video]

French authorities handed Telegram CEO Pavel Durov preliminary charges Wednesday for allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app, and barred him from leaving France pending further investigation.

Durov was detained on Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris as part of a judicial inquiry opened last month involving 12 alleged criminal violations, and released earlier Wednesday after four days of questioning.

Investigative judges filed the preliminary charges Wednesday night and ordered him to pay 5 million euros bail and to report to a police station twice a week.

Allegations against the Russia-born Durov, who is also a French citizen, include that his platform is being used for child sexual abuse material and drug trafficking, and that Telegram refused to share information or documents with investigators when required by law.

Durov’s arrest in France has caused outrage in Russia, with some government officials calling it politically motivated and proof of the West’s double standard on freedom of speech. The …