Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of the encrypted messaging service Telegram, has been arrested in France, according to local reports.
The 39-year-old tech chief was detained after his private plane landed at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of Paris.
Unnamed sources informed BFMTV and TF1 that the Russian-born entrepreneur, who received French citizenship in 2021, was the target of a search warrant.
The reports suggest that the investigation centers on Telegram’s insufficient moderation and the potential for criminal activities by its users.
Neither the French police, the Interior Ministry, nor representatives from Telegram have commented on the allegations.
Telegram is one of the most installed applications globally, with forecasts suggesting it could reach nearly a billion users within the next year.
The app features end-to-end encryption, ensuring data protection from interception, with a significant emphasis on user privacy.
In regions like Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet states, Telegram plays a crucial role.
Its commitment to privacy makes it favored among pro-democracy groups and dissidents in nations with restrictive regimes.
Telegram has become a vital information source concerning the conflict in Ukraine, utilized extensively by officials from both Moscow and Kyiv.
It ranks among the top social media platforms, boasting over 950 million monthly active users.
However, the platform has been linked to criminal activities and was recently used by far-right groups in the UK to incite riots following the Southport stabbings.
Details regarding the reasons for Durov’s arrest remain vague, but BFMTV cites that the warrant may relate to allegations of money laundering, drug trafficking, or the distribution of child sexual abuse material.
Durov founded Telegram with his brother in 2013. 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.
The founder, owner, and CEO of the app departed Russia in 2014 after losing control over his earlier social media enterprise, Vkontakte (VK).
He resisted governmental pressures to close opposition channels and to surrender data on Ukrainian activists to security forces.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry is reportedly making efforts to verify his arrest details.
Durov was naturalized as French in August 2021 and also holds citizenship in the United Arab Emirates.
Tucker Carlson, a commentator in the US, suggested on X that Durov’s detention in France might be due to his refusal to “censor the truth.”
In a recent conversation with an American TV host in April, Durov expressed his commitment to keeping Telegram neutral and free from geopolitical influences.
