French media reports announced the arrest of Pavel Durov The founder of Telegram at Bourget Airport near Paris on Saturday evening. Telegram is one of the most prominent social media platforms, especially in Russia, Ukraine and the former republics of the Soviet Union, and aims to reach one billion users within the next year.
Durov, who lives in Dubai, founded Telegram after leaving Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with Russian government orders to shut down opposition communities on his former platform VK.
TF1 reported that Durov was travelling on his private plane when he was arrested on an arrest warrant issued in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.
The investigation focuses on the lack of moderators of Telegram’s content, which allows some criminal activity to continue unchecked. Telegram did not immediately comment, and the French interior ministry and police declined to comment.
According to TF1 reports, Durov was travelling from Azerbaijan and was arrested around 8pm Paris time. Forbes magazine estimates Durov’s fortune at $15.5 billion. Durov has previously confirmed that some governments have tried to pressure him, but he insists that Telegram will remain a neutral platform and not involved in geopolitics.
The Russian embassy in France said it had not received any contact from Durov’s team following the news of his arrest, but had taken immediate steps to clarify the situation.
In turn, Russia’s representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, and several Russian politicians criticized France, considering it to be acting like a dictatorship. Some Russian bloggers also called for protests to be held in front of French embassies around the world on Sunday afternoon.
