By Deutsche Welle
25 Aug 2024, 10:44 AM EDT
Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, He was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday (24.08.2024) in the evening, according to media reports TF1 TV and BFM TVciting anonymous sources from France.
Telegram -particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union- is ranked as one of the top social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WechatDurov’s fortune was estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion and its app has 900 million active users.
The company Telegrambased in Dubai, was founded by Russian Durovwho left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to close opposition groups on his platform VK social media, which he sold.
Durov was traveling from Azerbaijan aboard his private plane, according to TF1 who added that he had been the subject of an order of Arrest in France as part of a preliminary police investigation. TF1 and BFM They said the investigation focused on a lack of moderators in Telegram and that the Police considered that such a situation would allow criminal activity to continue undisturbed through the messaging application.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the agency. ReutersThe French Interior Ministry and police also declined to comment.
The importance of Telegram for Russia and Ukraine
After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become the main source of unfiltered information from both sides -and sometimes with graphic and misleading content- about the war and the politics surrounding the conflict.
The app is the preferred means of communication for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his officials. The Kremlin and the Russian government also use it to spread their news.It has also become one of the few places where the Russian population can access news about the war.
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