Telegram chief executive Pavel Durov has spoken out for the first time since French authorities detained and charged him at the end of August over an alleged failure to address criminal content on the platform.

In a long post on the site on Thursday, Durov — who faces a litany of preliminary charges related to the company’s alleged lack of content moderation policies — said he was surprised by the decision to pursue him instead of starting legal proceedings against the company itself. If the French authorities needed assistance, he said, they “had numerous ways to reach me”.

Durov promised to ensure the platform moves to “significantly improve” its response to criminals using its service, blaming an “abrupt increase in user count” to 950mn for “growing pains”.