Telegram founder’s arrest was due to ‘lack of moderation’ but Macron says it’s not a political issue
Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, has detained in France over complaints that the messaging service has failed to effectively prevent crime on the app, including the distribution of child sexual abuse material.
The 39-year-old Russian billionaire was stopped at Le Bourget airport north of Paris on Saturday, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement. The next day, a judge presiding over the case extended his detention from 24 hours to 96 hours.
Before that deadline expires Wednesday evening, the judge must decide whether to charge Durov or name him as a witness in the investigation and release him.
Durov is being questioned as part of a case opened by the cybercrime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Investigating magistrates handling the case are considering a range of charges, including refusing to help authorities conduct a legal wiretap on a suspect, allowing the sale of child sexual abuse material and aiding and abetting drug trafficking.
Earlier on Monday, an official at a French agency set up last year to prevent violence against minors wrote on LinkedIn that the case focused on “the platform’s lack of moderation and cooperation.”
In a statement released on its platform on Sunday, the Dubai-based company asserted that Durov “has nothing to hide” and Telegram complies with European law.
“It is absurd to suggest that a platform or its owners should be held responsible for the misuse of that platform,” the statement said. “We look forward to a swift resolution to this situation.”
Telegram was created by Durov and his brother Nikolai, a programmer and mathematician, and is one of the most popular messaging apps globally with 900 million active users. The company is relatively a hands-off approach to content moderation has led to allegations that it is often used for criminal activity and the dissemination of extremist material.
Before launching Telegram, the Durov brothers made their fortune in 2006 by founding the social network VKontakte. The platform quickly became popular in Russia, and Pavel Durov now has a net worth of more than $9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
This success also made Durov a target of the Kremlin. In 2014, he fled the country and sold his shares in VKontakte.
Durov, who lives in Dubai, is a citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates, according to Telegram’s website. He did not comment on whether he had renounced his Russian citizenship.
Following Durov’s arrest, the Russian embassy in Paris said it “immediately requested the French authorities to explain the reasons and asked them to ensure the protection of his rights and provide consular access.” The embassy added that embassy officials had contacted Durov’s lawyer.
French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X that Durov’s arrest was “absolutely not a political decision” and that the decision on the case would be made by the judges.
“The judiciary will enforce the law independently,” Macron wrote.
