Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested at French Airport Amid Controversial Investigation

Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and CEO of Telegram, was detained at Bourget Airport in France on Saturday evening, according to local reports. The arrest is reportedly part of an ongoing investigation into Telegram's moderation practices.

Telegram Founder Arrested in France

The wealthy CEO and inventor of the messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, was detained at the Bourget airport outside of Paris on Saturday evening, according to TF1 TV and BFM TV, citing unknown sources, Reuters reports.

Among the most prominent social media platforms, Telegram is highly regarded in Russia, Ukraine, and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It follows in the footsteps of Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and Wechat. Its goal for the following year is to reach one billion users.

Telegram was established by Durov, a Russian national, and is based in Dubai. After selling his social media network VK to the Russian government, he refused to shut down opposition communities on the platform and subsequently fled Russia in 2014.

Police Detain Durov on Private Plane

According to TF1's website, Durov was on his private plane when he was arrested in France as part of an initial police inquiry.

Both TF1 and BFM reported that the absence of Telegram moderators was at the center of the investigation, with authorities believing that this allowed criminal conduct to continue unchecked on the messaging platform.

Reuters did not immediately hear back from Telegram regarding their comment request. No remark was made by the French Ministry of the Interior or the police.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become the go-to place on both sides to share their uncensored, often gory, and false opinions on the war and politics.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine and his colleagues have made the app their go-to method of communication. It is also used by the Russian government and the Kremlin to spread news. In addition, it is now among the few sources where Russians can find war-related news.

Per Yahoo Finance, at about 00:00 (18:00 GMT), according to TF1, authorities detained Durov, who was on his way from Azerbaijan.

The app should continue to be a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics," according to Durov, whose value was estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion. He claimed that some nations have tried to exert pressure on him.

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, the Russian embassy in France stated that Durov's team was not contacted following the arrest claims, but it was taking "immediate" measures to provide clarification.

Russia Accuses France of Totalitarian Behavior

Several Russian leaders, including Russia's envoy to Vienna for international organizations, Mikhail Ulyanov, were eager to accuse France of dictatorship-like behavior.

"Some naive persons still don't understand that if they play more or less visible role in international information space it is not safe for them to visit countries which move towards much more totalitarian societies," Ulyanov said in X.

Protests were planned at French embassies worldwide at noon on Sunday, according to a number of Russian bloggers.