Russian-French billionaire Pavel Durov was detained on Saturday evening after his private jet landed at Bourget airport.
According to French media, the 39-year-old was wanted on an arrest warrant in relation to criminal activity going unchecked on the platform.
Hacking of Israeli data
This allegedly included tens of thousands of classified documents from Israel’s Justice Ministry being leaked by hackers onto the channel.
It is not yet known whether Durov’s arrest relates directly to this case.
Telegram, an encrypted messaging app with nearly one billion users, is especially influential in Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet republics.
It ranks among the major social media platforms alongside Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The French Interior Ministry and police also declined to comment.
Who is Pavel Durov?
Durov, who was born in Russia, founded Telegram with his brother in 2013. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition groups on his VKontakte social media platform, which he later sold.
“I would rather be free than to take orders from anyone,” Durov said in an April interview with U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson, reflecting on his departure from Russia and his search for a new home for his company, which included stints in Berlin, London, Singapore, and San Francisco.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become a primary source of unfiltered—and sometimes graphic and misleading—content about the war and the surrounding politics from both sides.
The platform has been described by some analysts as a ‘virtual battlefield’ for the conflict, heavily used by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his officials, as well as the Russian government.
Telegram, which allows users to avoid official scrutiny, has also become one of the few places where Russians can access independent news about the war after the Kremlin increased restrictions on independent media following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian foreign ministry stated that its embassy in Paris is working to clarify the situation surrounding Durov and urged Western non-governmental organizations to demand his release.
Telegram’s growing popularity has attracted scrutiny from several European countries, including France, over concerns about security and data breaches.
Free speech advocates have highlighted the importance of the app for its lack of censorship in comparison to rival social media platforms.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, commented after reports of Durov’s detention: “It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who on Friday ended his U.S. presidential campaign and endorsed Republican Donald Trump, also posted on X after the reports, saying that the need to protect free speech “has never been more urgent.”
