The founder and CEO of the Telegram communication platform, Pavel Durov, was arrested by French police after his private plane landed at Paris’ Le Bourget airport on Saturday, French media reported.
According to authorities, the 39-year-old billionaire was arrested in connection with an investigation into the lack of moderators at Telegram, something he had previously denied.
Durov is accused of failing to take steps to curb criminal use of Telegram. The app is accused of failing to cooperate with authorities on drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud.
His lawyer, Dmitry Agranovsky, told Russian media outlet RIA Novosti that the allegations were similar to Blaming a car manufacturer for an accident or for using their vehicles to commit crimes.
Agranovsky said the arrest was “absolutely ridiculous” and an attack on freedom of expression.
Pavel Durov was born in Russia and lives in Dubai. He has dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France.
Telegram is particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and the states of the former Soviet Union.
The application It was banned in Russia in 2018after the founder and CEO refused to hand over user data. The ban was revoked in 2021.
Telegram is ranked as one of the top social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.
Pavel Durov founded Telegram in 2013 and left Russia a year later after refusing to comply with government requests to close opposition communities on his social media platform VKontakte, which he sold.
Judge specializing in organized crime
On Sunday, the Russian embassy in France wrote on Facebook that it was trying “clarify the reasons for the arrest and ensure the protection of human rights Durov’s office as well as facilitating consular access.”
The publication added that French authorities were not cooperating with Russian officials.
A gendarmerie unit of Cybersecurity and the French police’s national anti-fraud unit are in charge of the investigation, a source told Reuters, adding that the investigating judge was specialized in organized crime.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova asked on Telegram whether Western human rights NGOs would remain silent about Durov’s arrest, after criticising Russia’s decision to “create obstacles” to Telegram’s work in Russia in 2018.
Several Russian officials condemned the businessman’s arrest, saying it showed that The West has double standards when it comes to freedom of expression and democracy.
Former US intelligence agent Edward Snowden, who leaked classified documents revealing the existence of global surveillance programs and who has lived in exile in Russia since 2013, said on X that Durov’s arrest “is an attack on basic human rights of expression and association.”
X owner Elon Musk, who has faced widespread criticism over moderation and content hosted on his own social network, posted several messages about the arrest.
He tagged one post with the hashtag #freepavel and in another he wrote: “Point of view: it’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.”
Moderating extremist content
Telegram allows groups of up to 200,000 members, which critics say makes it easier for users to spread misinformation and share conspiracy, neo-Nazi, pedophile or terrorism-related content.
In the UK, for example, the app has come under scrutiny for hosting far-right channels that were instrumental in organising violent riots in English cities earlier this month.
Telegram removed some groups, but in general Its system for moderating extremist and illegal content is significantly weaker than that of other social media companies and messaging apps, cybersecurity experts say.
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