Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire founder and proprietor of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Le Bourget airport exterior Paris shortly after touchdown on a personal jet late on Saturday and positioned in custody, three sources advised Reuters.
The arrest of the 39-year-old know-how billionaire prompted on Sunday a warning from Moscow to Paris that he ought to be accorded his rights and criticism from X proprietor Elon Musk who mentioned that free speech in Europe was beneath assault.
There was no official affirmation from France of the arrest, however two French police sources and one Russian supply who spoke on situation of anonymity mentioned that Durov was arrested shortly after arriving at Le Bourget airport on a personal jet from Azerbaijan.
One of many two French police sources mentioned that forward of the jet’s arrival, police had noticed he was on the passenger listing and moved to arrest him as a result of he was the topic of an arrest warrant in France.
“Telegram abides by EU legal guidelines, together with the Digital Companies Act — its moderation is inside business requirements and continually enhancing,” Telegram mentioned in a press release on the arrest.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to cover and travels continuously in Europe,” it mentioned. “It’s absurd to assert {that a} platform or its proprietor are chargeable for abuse of that platform.”
Durov, who has twin French and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was arrested as a part of a preliminary police investigation into allegedly permitting a variety of crimes because of a scarcity of moderators on Telegram and a scarcity of cooperation with police, a 3rd French police supply mentioned.
A cybersecurity gendarmerie unit and France’s nationwide anti-fraud police unit are main the investigation, that supply mentioned, including that the investigative decide was specialised in organised crime.
“We’re awaiting a immediate decision of this example. Telegram is with you all,” Telegram mentioned.
The French Inside Ministry, police and Paris prosecutor’s workplace had no remark.
Russian lawmaker Maria Butina, who spent 15 months in US jail for appearing as an unregistered Russian agent, mentioned Durov “is a political prisoner – a sufferer of a witch-hunt by the West.” Durov’s arrest led information bulletins in Russia.
Telegram, primarily based in Dubai, was based by Durov, who left Russia 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.
The encrypted utility, with near 1 billion customers, is especially influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the previous Soviet Union. It’s ranked as one of many main social media platforms after Fb, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
Telegram’s Origin and Affect
Durov, who’s estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion (roughly Rs. 1,29,963 crore), mentioned in April some governments had sought to stress him, however the app ought to stay a impartial platform and never a “participant in geopolitics”.
Durov got here up with the thought for an encrypted messaging app whereas going through stress in Russia. His youthful brother, Nikolai, designed the encryption.
“I’d somewhat be free than to take orders from anybody,” Durov mentioned in April about his exit from Russia and seek for a house for his firm, which included stints in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco.
After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has change into the principle supply of unfiltered – and generally graphic and deceptive – content material from either side in regards to the battle and the politics surrounding the battle.
The platform has change into what some analysts name “a digital battlefield” for the battle, used closely by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his officers, in addition to the Russian authorities.
Russia’s international ministry mentioned it had despatched a be aware to Paris demanding entry to Durov, though it mentioned that he had French citizenship.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev mentioned that Durov had misjudged by fleeing Russia and pondering that he would by no means should cooperate with the safety providers overseas.
Medvedev, who recurrently makes use of Telegram to criticise and insult the West, mentioned Durov wished to be a “good ‘man of the world’ who lives splendidly and not using a Motherland.”
“He miscalculated,” Medvedev mentioned. “For all our frequent enemies now, he’s Russian – and subsequently unpredictable and harmful.”
Russia started blocking Telegram in 2018 after the app refused to adjust to a courtroom order granting state safety providers entry to its customers’ encrypted messages.
The motion interrupted many third-party providers, however had little impact on the supply of Telegram there. The ban order, nevertheless, sparked mass protests in Moscow and criticism from NGOs.
Platform Underneath Scrutiny
Telegram says it “is dedicated to defending consumer privateness and human rights comparable to freedom of speech and meeting.”
Durov has beforehand accused US regulation enforcement businesses such because the FBI of in search of to get a backdoor into the platform. The FBI has not commented on these allegations.
Telegram’s growing reputation, nevertheless, has prompted scrutiny from a number of nations in Europe, together with France, on safety and knowledge breach issues.
Musk, billionaire proprietor of X, the social media platform previously often called Twitter, mentioned after stories of Durov’s detention: “It is 2030 in Europe and also you’re being executed for liking a meme.”
Exterior the French embassy in Moscow, a lone protester held an indication studying: “Liberté pour Pavel Durov”.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
