Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been arrested in France for allegedly allowing criminal activities to flourish on the encrypted messaging app due to poor moderation and a lack of cooperation with law enforcement.
Durov, who was born in Russia but holds a French passport, was arrested at Le Bourget airport near Paris over the weekend after arriving on a private jet from Azerbaijan.
He is the founder and CEO of Telegram, an encrypted messaging and social media app popular in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet Union states.
Launched in 2013, Telegram provides a cloud-based messaging service for users around the world, and allows for the creation of groups with up to 200,000 people, or channels for “broadcasting to unlimited audiences”.
Telegram boasts close to a billion users but has faced consistent controversy over its alleged facilitation of crime due to its encrypted nature and largely non-existent restrictions on content.
Following questions in 2015 over the Islamic State using Telegram, Durov replied that “our right for privacy is more important than our fear of bad things happening, like terrorism”.
In contrast to many of its rivals, Telegram does not employ end-to-end encryption and unless users set up a “secret chat”, the company is still able to read the messages being sent on its platform.
Durov has previously been dubbed ‘Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg’ and is estimated to be worth nearly $23 billion ($US15.5 billion).
In a statement, the French Prosecutor of the Republic said that Durov’s arrest relates to a judicial investigation that began in early July into the use of Telegram to commit crimes.
The prosecutor is alleging that Durov, as the company’s CEO, was complicit in a range of crimes on Telegram, including child pornography, drug trafficking and fraud.
He also refused to communicate information on these crimes to law enforcement.
‘Nothing to hide’
In a statement, Telegram said that Durov should not be held accountable for crimes committed on the platform.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” the company statement said.
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owners are responsible for abuse of that platform.
“Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as a means of communication and as a source of vital information.
“We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”
The arrest by French authorities has sparked backlash from major tech figures, including Elon Musk, and accusations that it was political in nature.
Musk posted “#freePavel” on X, while former US presidential hopeful Robert F Kennedy said that “the need to protect free speech has never been more urgent”.
Russian political activist Georgy Alburov also criticised the arrest, labelling it a “significant blow to freedom of speech”, while high-profile whistleblower Edward Snowden said it was an “assault on the basic human rights of speech and association”.
In a statement on X, French president Emmanuel Macron refuted the “false information” surrounding the arrest.
“The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron said.
“It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”
Durov founded Telegram in 2013 with his brother.
He had earlier launched social media site VKontakte in Russia in 2006, but left this company, and Russia, in 2014.
He obtained a French passport in 2021 after being naturalised as a French citizen.
As of Tuesday, Durov remains in custody in France and can be held until Wednesday, when he will either be charged or released without charge.
