The French Republic v. Pavel Durov

 Pavel Valeryevich Durov, born on October 10, 1984 in Saint Petersburg, is widely recognized for founding the prominent social networking platform Telegram Messenger in 2013 alongside his brother and co-founder, Nikolai Durov. Telegram is most known for its ability to create large public communities with up 200,000 members where public announcements and messages can be sent alongside its end-to-end encrypted direct messages. However, the billionaire was formally indicted on six charges including enabling criminal activity on his platform and refusing to cooperate with law enforcement.

Durov could potentially face up to 20 years in prison when he was arrested on 24th of August 2024; with counts of enabling money laundering, fraud, evading sanctions, narcotics, and even the facilitation of internationally recognized terrorist organizations such as Hamas and ISIS. The French government quotes the main reason behind his arrest as a “Lack of Moderation and Cooperation with Law Enforcement”. This stems from the fact that operations on telegram are End to End Encrypted (E2EE), meaning that it is practically impossible for external parties (such as governments) to access user data illegitimately by any means. Therefore, illegal acts such as “Hate Speech” or “Murder Conspiracy” thrive on this uncensored social networking site, which cannot be tracked by authorities. Therefore, intergovernmental organizations such as the EU through Eurojust & Europol, as well as the UN through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have attempted to eradicate E2EE. The eradication of E2EE could place the goals of free speech & digital privacy many of these organizations have in question, as any online conversation may be under government surveillance.

However, Durov’s legal liability in this situation is questionable as E2EE is currently legal in France, and most other countries Telegram operates in. Not to mention the fact that it is highly unlikely that Durov had any direct affiliation with illegal activities, and was simply unintentionally facilitating them. Strangely, Telegram’s E2EE freshly became conditional soon after Durov’s arrest, allowing authorities to access user data whenever they saw fit. Moreover, the update in policy was very soon followed by the CEO’s €5 million bail, where he now reports to the authorities biweekly. 

The French Republic v. Franz-Olivier Giesbert

Franz-Oliver Giesbert, the editor-in-chief of Le Point, along with journalist Hervé Gattegno, faced legal challenges due to articles published in December 2009 and February 2010. These articles discussed the ongoing legal proceedings against one of his colleagues , a photographer accused of exploiting Liliane Bettencourt, the heiress to the L'Oréal fortune. The articles included confidential judicial documents that were not intended for public release.

The Bettencourt affair is about Liliane Bettencourt, the wealthy heiress of L'Oréal, it involves accusations of illegal political donations and corruption. Several people, including politicians and advisors, have been accused of using her fortune for their gain. This has raised concerns about how much power and influence rich individuals can have over politics.

Giesbert and his colleagues allegedly published confidential excerpts from legal case files during the high-profile Bettencourt Affair. The leaked information came from documents in an ongoing judicial investigation, including prosecution files protected under French law, section 38 of the French Press Act governing judicial confidentiality.

These laws are enacted to ensure that trials are fair and not influenced by external elements. Publishing the details, as Giesbert did, had the potential to mold public opinion and perhaps influence the investigation. The French courts fined him, and when he appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, the court agreed that keeping court files private was more important than publishing them, to ensure fairness in justice​.