The founder and executive director of the “Telegram” application, Russian-French billionaire Pavel Durov was arrested Saturday evening at Bourget airport near Pars, French media reported, citing unidentified sources.
According to the TF1 network, Mr. Durov was traveling on his private plane and an arrest warrant was issued against him as part of a preliminary investigation by the law enforcement authorities.
According to two French televisions, the investigation was focused on the lack of control and supervision in the Telegram network and that the police estimated that, as a result, it has not been possible to curb criminal activity in the messaging network. According to French media, Mr. Durov could face charges on Sunday.
The encrypted Telegram network, which has almost a billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union. Telegram ranks as one of the biggest platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.
The Telegram network did not respond to a request by Reuters news agency for comment. The French Interior Ministry and the police have not made statements. Russian-born Pavel Durov and his brother founded the Telegram network in 2013. He fled Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down critical groups on his social media platform VKontakte, which sold it.
“I'd rather be free than take orders from anyone” Mr Durov told US journalist Tucker Carlson in April.
After the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2022, the Telegram network has become the main source of uncontrolled and often inaccurate information, for both the warring parties as well as the political actors of the conflict.
The platform has become what some analysts call a “virtual battlefield,” widely used by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his officials, as well as the Russian government.
The Telegram network, which allows users to evade official control, has become one of the few sources where Russians can access independent information about the war, as the Kremlin increased restrictions and controls on independent media following the aggression in Ukraine.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said its embassy in Paris was seeking clarity on the situation surrounding Mr Durov and called on Western non-governmental organizations to demand his release.
