Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Detained by French Authorities on Serious Charges

Telegram founder Pavel Durov was detained by French authorities at a Paris airport over a French arrest warrant. The charges include complicity in drug trafficking, crimes against children, and fraud due to lacking moderation on Telegram. Durov has been residing in Dubai since leaving Russia in 2014.

French authorities have detained Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app, at an airport near Paris, according to a report by CNN. Durov, a French-Russian billionaire, was taken into custody by officers from France's anti-fraud office attached to French customs on Saturday evening after his flight from Azerbaijan landed at Bourget Airport, BFMTV reported.

The 39-year-old Durov faces a French arrest warrant due to inadequate moderation on Telegram, which allegedly facilitated money laundering, drug trafficking, and the sharing of pedophilic content. BFMTV noted that Durov had not frequently traveled to France or Europe since the issuance of the warrant.

According to the Moscow Times, citing French local media, France charged Durov with complicity in drug trafficking, crimes against children, and fraud, primarily due to Telegram's lack of moderation and his non-cooperation with law enforcement. The Russian-born founder of Telegram, which claims over 900 million users, has been based in Dubai and became a French citizen in August 2021.

Durov, who also founded the social network VKontakte, left Russia in 2014 after refusing to share VKontakte user data with Russian security services. Subsequently, Russia's attempts to block Telegram for not providing users' communications to security services were unsuccessful. Telegram remains popular among Russian speakers and is a crucial platform for information sharing on the war in Ukraine, reportedly used by the Russian military for communication. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)