(Reuters) – Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV reported, citing unnamed sources.
Both TF1 and BFM said the investigation focused on the lack of moderators on Telegram and that police believed this situation allowed criminal activity on the messaging app to continue unhindered.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The French Interior Ministry and police did not comment. The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was taking steps to “clarify” the situation and asked whether Western non-governmental organizations (NGOs) would call for his release.
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What is known about Durov and Telegram:
* Durov, 39, a native of Russia, is the founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram, a free platform that competes with other social media platforms such as Facebook’s WhatsApp or Instagram, TikTok and Wechat. The platform aims to exceed the one billion active monthly users mark within a year.
* Telegram is highly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It has become a major source of information about Russia’s war in Ukraine and is used extensively by both Moscow and Kyiv politicians. Some analysts call the app the “virtual battlefield” of the war.
* Durov, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his social media platform VKontakte, which he subsequently sold.
* According to Russian and French media, Durov became a French citizen in 2021. He moved to Dubai with Telegram in 2017.
* “I would rather be free than take orders from anyone,” Durov told US journalist Tucker Carlson in April about his departure from Russia and the search for a location for his company, which included stops in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco.
* In the same interview, Durov said that he does not own any major assets such as real estate, jets or yachts other than money or bitcoins because he wants to be free.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by David Gregorio)
Disclaimer: This report is auto-generated by Reuters. ThePrint takes no responsibility for its content.
