August 25, 2024 1:33 PM.
The founder and CEO of popular messaging application Telegram, Pavel Durov, was arrested at Le Bourget Airport, outside Paris yesterday.
French authorities have stated that Durov’s arrest was made under a warrant related to offenses connected to the Telegram platform. The investigation was focused on lack of moderators on Telegram that allowed criminal activity.
After Durov’s arrest, the Russian embassy in France is taking immediate steps to gather more information about the situation.
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant, with the investigation focusing on the alleged lack of content moderation on Telegram, which police claim has enabled criminal activity to flourish on the platform.
Telegram has yet to comment on the situation, and both the French interior mnistry and the police have remained silent. Russia’s foreign ministry announced that it is taking steps to “clarify” the circumstances surrounding Durov’s arrest and questioned whether Western non-governmental organizations (NGOs) would seek his release.
Pavel Durov, 39, is a Russian-born entrepreneur who founded Telegram in 2013. The platform quickly gained a reputation for its strong emphasis on privacy, encryption, and free speech, often resisting governmental controls.
Telegram’s influence: The app has become a critical source of information in Russia, Ukraine, and former Soviet republics. It’s widely used by officials on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with some analysts describing it as a “virtual battlefield” in the ongoing war.