Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested at French airport
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested by French police at an airport near Paris.
French media reported that Mr. Durov was detained after his private jet landed at Le Bourget Airport.
Officials stated that the 39-year-old billionaire was arrested under a warrant related to the popular messaging app. The investigation reportedly centers on a lack of moderation, with Mr. Durov accused of failing to address the criminal use of Telegram.
The app has faced accusations of not cooperating with law enforcement on matters involving drug trafficking, child sexual abuse content, and fraud. Telegram has previously denied allegations of insufficient moderation.
Mr. Durov, who was born in Russia, currently resides in Dubai and holds dual citizenship in the United Arab Emirates and France.
Telegram is especially popular in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet states. In 2018, Russia banned the app after Mr. Durov refused to provide user data, though the ban was lifted in 2021.
Telegram is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
Mr Durov founded Telegram in 2013 and he left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VKontakte social media platform, which he sold.
On Sunday, the Russian Embassy in France said it was seeking access to Mr Durov.
It wrote on Facebook: “Following the media reports about the detention of P. Durov, the French authorities were immediately requested to clarify the reasons for the detention and to provide for the protection of Mr Durov’s rights and facilitate consular access.
“As of today, the French authorities are, at the present time, not cooperating on this issue.
“We are in contact with P. Durov’s lawyer.”
Russian Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram asking whether Western human rights NGOs would be silent on Mr Durov’s arrest, after they criticised Russia’s decision to “create obstacles” to the work of Telegram in Russia in 2018.
Several Russian officials condemned the businessman’s arrest, saying it showed the West has double standards when it comes to free speech and democracy.
X owner Elon Musk, who has faced extensive criticism over moderation and material hosted by his own social media site, posted repeatedly about the situation. He hashtagged one post #freepavel, and in another wrote: “POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.”
Telegram allows groups of up to 200,000 members, which critics have argued makes it easier for misinformation to spread virally, and for users to share conspiracist, neo-Nazi, paedophilic, or terror-related content.
In the UK, the app was scrutinised for hosting far-right channels that were instrumental in organising the violent disorder in English cities earlier this month.
Telegram did remove some groups, but overall its system of moderating extremist and illegal content is significantly weaker than that of other social media companies and messenger apps, say cybersecurity experts.
1 comment
I don’t see any reason for his arrest instead he should have been invited to a round table discussion to deliberate on issues that bother on his platform .