Telegram messaging app CEO and founder Pavel Durov was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, reported Reuters citing French media. The messaging app, influential in Russia, Ukraine and the other republics of the former Soviet Union, is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram and WeChat. It aims to hit one billion users in the next year.
Pavel Durov was travelling in his private jet when the French authorities arrested him, based on an outstanding arrest warrant as part of a preliminary police investigation. The Frech Police are investigating the lack of moderators on Telegram, which according to them allowed criminal activities to go on undeterred on the messaging app.
So far no comments have been made either by French Police, authorities or Telegram in this regard. Telegram CEO was travelling from Azerbaijan and was arrested at around 20:00 (18:00 GMT) on Saturday, reported Reuters, citing French media.
Notably, Telegram was founded by Russian-born Durov. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold. Currently, he is based in Dubai.
Telegram, main source of information in Russia-Ukraine war
Telegram, gained prominence as the main source of information, unfiltered - and sometimes graphic and misleading - content, after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022. The app has also become the preferred means of communication for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his officials. The Kremlin and the Russian government also use it to disseminate their news. It has also become one of the few places where Russians can access news about the war.
Pressure from several govt
Although the French authorities and other governments across the world had reservations about the lack of moderation, Durov has maintained that some governments had sought to pressure him but the app, which has now 900 million active users, should remain a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics".
Durov, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, said Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in France denied any knowledge of his arrest and said to the Russian state TASS news agency that it was not contacted by Durov's team after the reports of the arrest, but it was taking "immediate" steps to clarify the situation.
(With REUTERS Inputs)
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