Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested at France’s Bourget airport while disembarking from his private jet, as reported by TF1
The arrest of Durov has prompted extensive discussion and speculation on social media, including on Telegram.
However, news reports have been primarily based on unnamed police sources. A request for comment was not responded to by Telegram or a spokesperson for France’s national anti-fraud office, ONAF.
The Russian embassy in France stated that it had requested an explanation from French authorities but had not received a response.
According to TF1, Durov was issued a warrant in France due to a preliminary police investigation.
According to reports, the French authorities claim that Durov is an accomplice to the drug trafficking, money laundering, and sharing of child pornography that allegedly occurred via the app due to Telegram’s content moderation and unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement.
The reported detention is expected to incite additional discourse regarding the extent to which messaging applications should be held accountable (both legally and ethically) for the messages their users transmit.
Forbes Durov’s Durov’s net worth is $15.5 billion. Although born in Russia, he departed in 2014 when he refused to comply with government pressure to disclose information regarding Ukrainian protest leaders from his previous social networking platform, Vkontakte.
According to reports, Durov currently resides in Dubai, the location of Telegram’s headquarters, and is reportedly approaching from Azerbaijan.
Last month, Durov disclosed that Telegram had 950 million active users, to surpass 1 billion this year. Simultaneously, the organization asserts that it has a team of approximately 30 engineers, which is exceedingly tiny for an application of Telegram’s magnitude.
Consequently, Durov’s significance in Telegram’s operations will be further enhanced.
