French judicial authorities on Sunday prolonged the detention of the Russian-born founder and chief of Telegram Pavel Durov after his arrest at a Paris airport over alleged offences associated to the favored however controversial messaging app.
His arrest on the Le Bourget airport exterior Paris late Saturday is the most recent extraordinary twist within the profession of one of many world’s most influential tech icons.
The detention of Durov, 39, was prolonged past Sunday night time by the investigating Justice of the Peace who’s dealing with the case, based on a supply near the investigation. This preliminary interval of detention for questioning can last as long as a most of 96 hours.
When this section of detention ends, the choose can then determine to free him or press expenses and remand in additional custody.
Russia has accused France of “refusing to cooperate” and fellow tech mogul Elon Musk swept to his defence. Durov holds a French passport along with different nationalities.
Durov had arrived in Paris from Baku, Azerbaijan, and was planning to have dinner within the French capital, a supply near the case stated.
He was accompanied by a bodyguard and a private assistant who at all times accompany him, added the supply, asking to not be named.
France’s OFMIN, an workplace tasked with stopping violence in opposition to minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov in a preliminary investigation into alleged offences together with fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organised crime and promotion of terrorism, one other supply stated.
Durov is accused of failing to take motion to curb the prison use of his platform.
Telegram stated in response that “Durov has nothing to cover and travels continuously in Europe.”
“Telegram abides by EU legal guidelines, together with the Digital Providers Act — its moderation is inside business requirements,” it added. “It’s absurd to assert {that a} platform or its proprietor are liable for abuse of that platform.”
– ‘Assault on fundamental human rights’ –
Durov based Telegram in 2013 after his first challenge, the Russian social community VKontakte (VK), bumped into possession difficulties he blamed on the Kremlin.
Telegram has turn out to be vastly common partly as a result of ease of viewing and posting movies on its messaging “channels”.
However critics accuse it of internet hosting usually unlawful content material starting from excessive sexual imagery, disinformation and in addition providers for getting medicine.
Russia’s embassy to Paris stated it had demanded entry to Durov however had had no response from France, saying “the French facet is refusing to cooperate”.
Russian international ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated Moscow had requested for consular entry, however since Durov additionally had French citizenship “France considers that it’s his major nationality”.
Musk, who leads the Tesla automobile group and the X social media, previously Twitter, posted the hashtag #FreePavel on X and commented in French, “Liberte Liberte! Liberte?” (Freedom Freedom! Freedom?).
US whistleblower Edward Snowden, who took asylum in Russia, blasted “an assault on the fundamental human rights of speech and affiliation”, saying he was saddened Paris had “descended to the extent of taking hostages as a way for getting access to non-public communications.”
– ‘Independence, privateness, freedom’ –
A supply near the case expressed shock that Durov had flown to France with a warrant in opposition to him. “Maybe he had a sense of impunity,” stated the supply.
Le Bourget is now utilized by non-public planes relatively than common business visitors. Additionally it is famed because the place the Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961.
Telegram, an encrypted messaging app primarily based in Dubai, has positioned itself as an alternative choice to US-owned platforms, which have been criticised for his or her business exploitation of customers’ private knowledge.
Telegram has dedicated to by no means disclosing details about its customers.
In a uncommon interview given to right-wing discuss present host Tucker Carlson in April, Durov stated he obtained the thought to launch an encrypted messaging app after coming beneath strain from the Russian authorities whereas working at VK.
He stated he then tried to settle in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco earlier than selecting Dubai, which he praised for its enterprise setting and “neutrality”.
Folks “love the independence. Additionally they love the privateness, the liberty, (there are) a whole lot of the reason why any individual would swap to Telegram,” Durov instructed Carlson.
He stated on the time that the platform had greater than 900 million lively customers.
By basing itself within the United Arab Emirates, Telegram has shielded itself from moderation legal guidelines at a time when Western nations are pressuring massive platforms to take away unlawful content material.
Telegram permits teams of as much as 200,000 members, which has led to accusations that it makes it simpler for false info to unfold virally, in addition to for customers to disseminate neo-Nazi, paedophilic, conspiratorial and terrorist content material.
Competitor messaging service WhatsApp launched worldwide limits on message forwarding in 2019 after it was accused of enabling the unfold of false info in India that led to lynchings.
