The founder and CEO of the messaging service Telegram was detained at a Paris airport, French media reported Sunday.
Pavel Durov, a dual citizen of France and Russia, was detained at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday evening after landing in France from Azerbaijan, according to broadcasters LCI and TF1.
Investigators from the National Anti-Fraud Office, attached to the French customs department, notified Durov that he was being placed in police custody, the broadcasters said.
French prosecutors declined to comment on Durov鈥檚 arrest when contacted by The Associated Press on Sunday, in line with regulations during an ongoing investigation.
French media reported that Durov, 39, was the subject of an arrest warrant on allegations that his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offenses. The reports said that the warrant was issued by France at the request of the special unit at the country鈥檚 interior ministry in charge of investigating crimes against minors, including online sexual exploitation, such as possession and distribution of child sexual abuse content and grooming for sexual purposes.
Durov鈥檚 representatives couldn鈥檛 be immediately reached for comment.
Telegram was founded by Durov and his brother in the wake of the Russian government鈥檚 crackdown after mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow at the end of 2011 and 2012.
The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital space, adopting regulations that forced internet providers to block websites and cellphone operators to store call records and messages that could be shared with security services.
In the increasingly repressive environment, Telegram and its pro-privacy rhetoric offered a convenient way for Russians to communicate and share news. In 2018, Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor moved to block Telegram over its refusal to hand over encryption keys, but ultimately failed to fully restrict access to the app.
Telegram continued to be widely used 鈥� including by government institutions 鈥� and the ban was dropped two years later. In March 2024, Roskomnadzor said that Telegram was working with the Russian government to a certain extent and had removed more than 256,000 posts with prohibited content at Roskomnadzor鈥檚 request.
Telegram also continues to be a popular source of news in Ukraine, where both media outlets and officials use it to share information on the war, and deliver missile and air raid alerts.
A French judicial official suggested that Durov could appear before a judge later Sunday to determine whether he will remain in custody. The official wasn鈥檛 authorized to be named publicly during an ongoing investigation.
鈥淚f the person concerned is to be brought before a judge today, it is only in the context of the possible extension of his police custody measure 鈥� a decision that must be taken and notified by an investigating judge,鈥� the official said.
Western governments have often criticized Telegram for lack of content moderating on the messaging service, which experts say opens up the messaging platform for potential use in money laundering, drug trafficking and allowing the sharing of content linked to sexual exploitation of minors.
Compared to other messaging platforms, Telegram is 鈥渓ess secure (and) more lax in terms of policy and detection of illegal content,鈥� said David Thiel, a Stanford University researcher, who has investigated the use of online platforms for child exploitation, at its Internet Observatory.
In addition, Telegram 鈥渁ppears basically unresponsive to law enforcement,鈥� Thiel said, adding that messaging service WhatsApp 鈥渟ubmitted over 1.3 million CyberTipline reports in 2023 (and) Telegram submits none.鈥�
In 2022, Germany issued fines of 5.125 million euros ($5 million) against the operators of Telegram for failing to comply with German law. The Federal Office of Justice said that Telegram FZ-LLC hasn鈥檛 established a lawful way for reporting illegal content. or named an entity in Germany to receive official communication.
Both are required under German laws that regulate large online platforms.
Russian government officials expressed outrage at Durov鈥檚 arrest, with some highlighting what they said was the West鈥檚 double standards on freedom of speech.
鈥淚n 2018, a group of 26 NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and others, condemned the Russian court鈥檚 decision to block Telegram,鈥� Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
鈥淒o you think this time they鈥檒l appeal to Paris and demand Durov鈥檚 release?鈥� Zakharova said in a post on her personal Telegram account.
Officials at the Russian Embassy in Paris had requested access to Durov, Zakharova told Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti, but she added that French authorities view Durov鈥檚 French citizenship as his primary one.
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Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, and Matt OBrien in Providence, Rhode Island, contributed to this report.
Barbara Surk, The Associated Press
