Key Factors
- Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested in France.
- Telegram is an encrypted messaging platform with explicit affect in Russia.
- France says Durov’s detention is a part of an investigation into crimes associated to youngster pornography and fraud.
A French prosecutor says the CEO of messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, was arrested as a part of a cyber criminality investigation.
The Russian-born Durov, who was naturalised as a French citizen in 2021, is being held in custody in France .
The investigation issues crimes associated to illicit transactions, youngster pornography, fraud and the refusal to speak data to authorities, the prosecutor mentioned in a press release.
What’s Telegram?
Telegram is a well-liked messaging and social media app much like WhatsApp. It was based in 2013 by Durov and his brother Nikolai.
The encrypted utility, with near a billion customers, is especially influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the previous Soviet Union.
As a consequence of its encrypted nature and minimal restrictions on content material, it has been linked to the facilitation of each prison exercise and use by violent organisations — in addition to pro-democracy activism.
Macron says arrest a part of judicial investigation
Durov was arrested in France as a part of an ongoing judicial investigation, and there was no political motive, French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned earlier on Monday.
Macron’s assertion on X amounted to the primary official affirmation of Durov’s arrest, practically two days since he was detained at Le Bourget airport exterior Paris shortly after touchdown on a non-public jet from Azerbaijan.
The dearth of official affirmation had led to hypothesis concerning the causes behind his detention.
Macron mentioned he had learn “false data right here concerning France following the arrest of Pavel Durov”, including France was deeply dedicated to free speech.
“The arrest of the Telegram president on French territory happened as a part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron wrote.
“That is by no means a political resolution. It’s as much as the judges to resolve.”
A police spokesman instructed the Reuters information company that Durov is beneath investigation by the cybercrime and fraud places of work for failing to cooperate over cyber and monetary crimes on Telegram.
Durov is being accused of negligence concerning the platform’s facilitation of such crimes — together with drug trafficking and youngster exploitation.
He’s nonetheless in custody, the spokesperson mentioned.
Telegram is an encrypted messaging platform with near a billion customers and is especially influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the previous Soviet Union. Supply: AAP / Jaap Arriens/Jaap Arriens/Sipa USA
Tensions between France and Russia have been mounting for months, with French authorities accusing Russia of making an attempt to destabilise it forward of the Paris Olympics in response to its extra hawkish stance on the Ukraine conflict — claims Russia denies.
Who’s Pavel Durov?
Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire solid as “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg” has twin French and United Arab Emirates citizenship.
Born in Russia in 1984, he left the nation in 2014 after he refused to adjust to calls for to close down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he has offered.
Estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $US15.5 billion ($22.9 billion), Durov mentioned in April some governments had sought to stress him however that Telegram ought to stay a impartial platform and never a “participant in geopolitics”.
He obtained his French passport in 2021 by a particular process for high-profile foreigners exempting them from the same old authorized necessities, together with having lived within the nation for not less than 5 years.
What has Telegram mentioned about Durov’s arrest?
Telegram gave no particulars of the arrest however mentioned the Dubai-based firm abided by European Union legal guidelines and its moderation was “inside business requirements and continually enhancing”.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to cover and travels continuously in Europe,” Telegram mentioned in a press release.
“It’s absurd to assert {that a} platform or its proprietor are accountable for abuse of that platform.”
