Pavel Durov, the cofounder and CEO of the messaging and social media platform Telegram, was arrested at an airport in Paris, according to French media reports published Saturday.
He was arrested at around 8 p.m. local time at Paris’s Le Bourget airport by French police after he flew in from Azerbaijan, French news channel TF1 Info reported, citing police sources.
BFM, another French outlet, and TF1 reported that Durov, who has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was arrested as part of a preliminary police investigation into allowing possible criminality due to a lack of moderators on Telegram and a lack of cooperation with police.
“Telegram is a hive of criminal content. The platform is currently in the spotlight for illegal sports broadcasts, but many accounts on this service are used by organized crime. In addition to terrorism, most dangerous criminals use Telegram to exchange child pornography content,” one source told TF1 Info.
There was no official confirmation from France of the arrest, or confirmation about actions taken against Telegram. Durov faces possible indictment on Sunday, according to French media.
The Epoch Times contacted Telegram for comment on Sunday. The French Interior Ministry has not responded to a request for comment.
Telegram, based in Dubai, was founded by Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold.
The encrypted application, with close to one billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine, and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
Since the start of the Russia–Ukraine war, the platform has become a crucial messaging service to deliver updates on the conflict, including from both the Ukrainian and Russian governments and military officials.
Telegram’s website says it “is committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly.”
In an interview earlier this year with commentator Tucker Carlson, Durov said that he wants Telegram to be a “neutral platform” and not to get involved in geopolitics.
“I think it’s the best place for a neutral platform like ours to be in if we want to make sure we can defend our users’ privacy and freedom of speech,” he told Carlson, adding that Telegram users “love the independence.”
“They also love the privacy, the freedom, [there are] a lot of reasons why somebody would switch to Telegram,” he said at the time.
The arrest of the 39-year-old technology billionaire prompted on Sunday a warning and criticism from X owner Elon Musk who said that free speech in Europe was under attack.
Musk, the billionaire owner of X, wrote on his platform after reports of Durov’s detention: “It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.”
Outside the French embassy in Moscow, video footage showed a lone protester holding up a sign reading: “Liberté pour Pavel Durov,” meaning “Freedom for Pavel Durov.”
The head of Rumble, a video-sharing platform, wrote on X that he departed Europe after the reported arrest of Durov.
“I’ve just safely departed from Europe,” Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski wrote. “France has threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed a red line by arresting Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov.”
“Rumble will not stand for this behavior and will use every legal means available to fight for freedom of expression, a universal human right. We are currently fighting in the courts of France, and we hope for Pavel Durov’s immediate release.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said via state-run media that it sent a note to France’s Foreign Ministry over the arrest.
Reuters contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times