NICE, France — The founder and CEO of the messaging service Telegram was detained at a Paris airport on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for cash laundering, drug trafficking and different offenses, French media reported Sunday.
Pavel Durov, a twin citizen of France and Russia, was taken into custody at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday night after touchdown in France from Azerbaijan, based on broadcasters LCI and TF1.
Investigators from the Nationwide Anti-Fraud Workplace, connected to the French customs division, notified Durov, 39, that he was being positioned in police custody, the broadcasters mentioned.
Durov’s representatives couldn’t be instantly reached for remark.
French prosecutors declined to touch upon Durov’s arrest when contacted by on Sunday, consistent with rules throughout an ongoing investigation.
French media reported that the warrant for Durov was issued by France on the request of the particular unit on the nation’s inside ministry accountable for investigating crimes in opposition to minors. These embody on-line sexual exploitation, corresponding to possession and distribution of kid sexual abuse content material and grooming for sexual functions.
Telegram was based by Durov and his brother within the wake of the Russian authorities’s crackdown after mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow on the finish of 2011 and 2012.
The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital house, adopting rules that compelled web suppliers to dam web sites and cellphone operators to retailer name data and messages that may very well be shared with safety companies.
Within the more and more repressive atmosphere, Telegram and its pro-privacy rhetoric supplied a handy manner for Russians to speak and share information. In 2018, Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor moved to dam Telegram over its refusal handy over encryption keys, however in the end failed to totally prohibit entry to the app.
Telegram continued to be extensively used — together with by authorities establishments — and the ban was dropped two years later. In March 2024, Roskomnadzor mentioned that Telegram was working with the Russian authorities to a sure extent and had eliminated greater than 256,000 posts with prohibited content material at Roskomnadzor’s request.
Telegram additionally continues to be a preferred supply of stories in Ukraine, the place each media shops and officers use it to share data on the warfare, and ship missile and air raid alerts.
In a press release posted on its platform, Telegram mentioned it abides by EU legal guidelines together with the digital companies act, and its moderation is “inside business requirements and always enhancing.”
Durov, the corporate added, “has nothing to cover and travels continuously in Europe.”
“It’s absurd to say {that a} platform or its proprietor are accountable for abuse of that platform,” Telegram’s put up mentioned. “Nearly a billion customers globally use Telegram as technique of communication and as a supply of significant data. We’re awaiting a immediate decision of this case. Telegram is with you all.”
Western governments have usually criticized Telegram for lack of content material moderating on the messaging service, which specialists say opens up the messaging platform for potential use in cash laundering, drug trafficking and permitting the sharing of content material linked to sexual exploitation of minors.