The Russian Foreign Ministry is working to “clarify” the detention of Telegram’s 39-year-old founder and CEO.
Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Bourget Airport outside Paris for suspected crimes related to his messaging app, French media reports.
Local sources said on Sunday that Durov, 39, arrived from Azerbaijan on his private jet and that a French arrest warrant had been issued against him as part of a preliminary investigation.
The crimes Durov has been accused of by the French agency OFMIN, which deals with the prevention of violence against minors, include fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying and organized crime, according to AFP news agency, citing officials who asked to remain anonymous.
The French-Russian billionaire is also accused of not taking action against the harmful use of Telegram.
According to French media, Durov faces charges on Sunday.
TF1 TV and BFM TV, citing unnamed sources, said the investigation focused on the lack of moderators and that police believed this situation had allowed criminal activity on the messaging app to continue unhindered.
One of the investigators told AFP he was surprised that Durov had entered France despite the arrest warrant against him, adding: “Enough of Telegram’s impunity.”
Telegram, which has nearly a billion users thanks to its coveted encryption features, was founded in Russia in 2013 by Durov and his brother.
He fled the country in 2014 and traveled all over the world in search of a location for his company, including to the German capital Berlin and San Francisco in the USA.
Russia-Ukraine War
After Russia began invading Ukraine in 2022, Telegram became the main source of unfiltered and sometimes graphic content from both warring parties.
The app is used extensively by Russian and Ukrainian officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
However, due to Telegram’s increasing popularity, several European countries, including France, have become critical of the app due to security reasons and concerns about data breaches.
The Russian representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, accused France of behaving like a “totalitarian” society.
“Some naive people still do not understand that it is not safe for them to visit countries that are moving towards more totalitarian societies if they play a more or less visible role in the international information space,” Ulyanov wrote on X.
Several Russian bloggers have called for protests in front of French embassies around the world.
Tech mogul and billionaire Elon Musk also criticized Durov’s arrest, saying: “In Europe it will be 2030 and you will be executed for liking a meme.”
There was no immediate response to Telegram and the French Interior Ministry and police also did not comment, Reuters news agency reported.
Russia, which has tried to ban Telegram in the past, said it was taking steps to “clarify” Durov’s situation, the TASS news agency reported.
