Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the Telegram app, was arrested on Saturday (8/24) night at Bourget Airport near Paris, according to reports by TF1 TV and BFM TV citing anonymous sources. Durov is a Russian-born billionaire.
Telegram has a huge presence in Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. It is now one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat. The platform is targeting one billion users by next year.
Dubai-based Telegram was founded by Durov. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he later sold.
Durov was traveling on his private jet, TF1 reported on its website. The report also said he was the target of an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.
TF1 and BFM TV reported that the investigation focused on the lack of moderators on Telegram. Police believe that this lack of oversight allowed criminal activity to continue unhindered on the app.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters. The French Interior Ministry and police did not comment.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram became the main channel for unfiltered content about war and politics. As a result, much of the content on Telegram from both sides appeared vulgar and misleading.
Telegram has become the primary means of communication for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team. The Kremlin and the Russian government also use the app to spread their news, making it one of the few platforms where Russians can get information about the war.
TF1 said Durov was flying from Azerbaijan and was arrested at around 8 p.m. local time.
Durov, whose wealth is estimated at $15.5 billion according to Forbes, said that some governments have tried to pressure him. However, he insisted that the app should remain a “neutral platform” and not get involved in “geopolitics.” Telegram is known to have 900 million active users currently.
The Russian Embassy in France told Russian state news agency TASS that it had not been contacted by Durov's team following reports of the arrest, but that it had taken “immediate” steps to clarify.
Russia's representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, along with several other Russian politicians, was quick to accuse France of acting dictatorially.
“Some naive people still do not understand that if they play a more or less visible role in the international information space, it is not safe for them to visit countries that are heading towards a more totalitarian society,” Ulyanov wrote in X.
Several Russian bloggers called for protests at French embassies around the world on Sunday (25/8) afternoon. (ah/ft)
