According to officials, Pavel Durov was arrested on a warrant for charges relating to the Telegram app.
According to officials, Pavel Durov was arrested on a warrant for charges relating to the Telegram app.
The founder and CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been arrested by French authorities at Le Bourget Airport, north of Paris. According to French media reports, the 39-year-old computer entrepreneur was held upon arrival on his private flight.
Officials have stated that Durov was arrested on a warrant for violations relating to the Telegram app. The particular nature of these charges has not been revealed at this time.
Forbes estimates Durov’s net worth at $15.5 billion. He was supposedly traveling on his private plane from Azerbaijan when he was apprehended at 8:00 PM local time. The arrest is believed to be related to an ongoing preliminary police investigation in France.
According to the sources, the probe is focused on Telegram’s alleged lack of content filtering. According to French officials, this scenario has allowed illegal activity to proliferate undetected on the platform.
Telegram, with almost 900 million active users, has emerged as a prominent actor in global communications, particularly in Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet countries. The portal has acquired popularity as a source of uncensored information regarding Ukraine’s ongoing conflict, which is used by both government officials and individuals.
Telegram has not yet reacted to calls for comment, and French authorities, including the Interior Ministry and the police, have declined to comment on the reports.
