The lawyer for Telegram boss Pavel Durov said it was, "totally absurd to suggest that the head of a social network" such as his client could be involved in criminal acts, as the tech founder was granted bail in Paris but handed a travel ban.
"Telegram fully abides with European rules on digital. It is a moderator whose rules are similar to those of other social networks," David-Olivier Kaminski told several reporters.
A French judge put Durov under formal investigation on Wednesday in a probe into organised crime on the messaging app, but granted the entrepreneur bail on condition he pays five million euros (AED 20 million), reports twice a week to police and does not leave French territory.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement the judge found there were grounds to formally investigate Durov on all the charges for which he was arrested four days ago.
They include suspected complicity in running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking and fraud, as well as the refusal to communicate information to authorities, money laundering and providing cryptographic services to criminals.
Durov's lawyer did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
US President Donald Trump urged Hamas on Tuesday to agree to what he called a "final proposal" for a 60-day ceasefire with Israel in Gaza that will be delivered by mediating officials from Qatar and Egypt.
Two people died in a wildfire in Spain's Catalonia region a day ago, which was largely contained though more wind and thunder storms were expected on Wednesday, emergency services and officials said, as Europe grappled with a severe heatwave.
CBS parent company Paramount has settled a lawsuit filed by US President Donald Trump over an interview broadcast in October, the latest concession by a media company to a president who has targeted outlets over what he describes as false or misleading coverage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had a "substantial" phone call with French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on the Iran-Israel conflict and Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, the first such exchange between the two leaders since September 2022.
The Republican-controlled US Senate passed President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill on Tuesday, signing off on a massive package that would enshrine many of his top domestic priorities into law while adding $3.3 trillion to the national debt.