International News

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France Amid Crime Probe

Sentinel Digital Desk

Published:25th Aug, 2024 at 1:53 PM

GUWAHATI: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested at Le Bourget airport in France on Saturday, AFP reports. The 39-year-old billionaire is accused of not having taken enough measures to prevent crimes committed through messaging platform Telegram.

These reports, according to Reuters, say that the inquiry revolves around a case wherein the police believe that the lack of moderators on the platform has let criminal activities go through unattended. He was reportedly detained while on his private jet traveling from Azerbaijan.

An agency dedicated to fighting violence against children has issued an warrant of arrest on France's Ofmin. It is part of a broader investigation into alleged crimes that include fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, and promotion of terrorism.

The exact grounds for Durov's arrest are not yet fully known. Russia's foreign ministry, however, indicated that its embassy in Paris is looking into the situation.

The ministry claimed that France acted as a dictatorship, very similar to what transpired when Russia was criticized for trying to ban Telegram in 2018 and also imposing demands on Durov in the year 2014. Russia also asked Western NGOs to come forward and speak for his release.

Durov's arrest comes at a time when the popularity of Telegram is growing, fueling security and data breach concerns among many European countries, notably France.

The platform has about one billion users, with the most significant chunk of its following hailing from Russia, Ukraine, and other republics that were once part of the Soviet Union. It is among the big social media platforms, which include Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat, having about 900 million active users.

Since the 2022 War between Russia and Ukraine started, Telegram has become a major source of unfiltered, graphic, and sometimes misleading content. The app is used by both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the Russian government.

Pavel Durov founded Telegram with his brother in 2013 but left Russia in 2014 after refusing to shut down opposition groups to President Vladimir Putin's government on his VKontakte social media platform, which he later sold.

Now living in Dubai and sporting dual citizenship in the UAE and France, according to Bloomberg, he has a net worth of over $9 billion, $15.5 billion as estimated by Forbes.