Telegram messenger founder Pavel Durov has been arrested in France, detained on Saturday night at Paris Le Bourget airport, French TV channels TF1 TV and BFM TV reported.
The 39-year-old billionaire is suspected of supporting criminal activity on Telegram by failing to take measures to prevent criminal use of the platform. TF1 and BFM reported that the investigation focused on the lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police believe this situation allowed criminal activity to continue unimpeded on the messenger. Durov is due to appear in court on Sunday.
The French agency Ofmin, created to combat violence against minors, issued an arrest warrant for Durov. Ofmin is the coordinating body for preliminary investigations into crimes such as fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and terrorist assistance.
Russian-born Durov founded Telegram with his brother Nikolai in 2013. The messenger now has more than 950 million active users. Durov left Russia in 2014, allegedly because he refused to comply with the demands of the Russian authorities to close down opposition communities on his social media platform VKontakte, which forced him to sell it.
From April 2018 to June 2020, the Russian authorities claimed to have blocked Telegram, but in fact, the messenger continued to operate. Now Telegram is actively used by the Russian authorities to spread propaganda, while Durov claims that his platform is neutral. Recently, Telegram blocked a number of Ukrainian bots that helped counter Russian aggression, but they were unblocked almost immediately.
Currently, Durov lives in Dubai and holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France, according to Telegram.