Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested for Criminal Activity

The detention of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was extended by French authorities on Sunday. Pavel was arrested at a Paris airport over the weekend on allegations that his messaging app facilitated criminal activities including money laundering and drug trafficking.

According to an AFP report, an investigating judge has ordered that Durov, 39, remain in custody beyond Sunday night. Durov can be held for questioning for up to 96 hours, after which he must either be charged or released.

Durov travelled from Azerbaijan on his private jet and a French arrest warrant had been issued for him as part of a preliminary investigation.

Lack of moderation on Telegram behind arrest?

The French agency OFMIN, which is charged with combating violence against minors, is investigating the Russian-born Durov in a probe into alleged crimes including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organised crime and promoting terrorism, AFP said, citing officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The French-Russian billionaire is accused of failing to prevent his app from being used for criminal activities. French media reported that the investigation focused on a lack of moderation on the platform.

Telegram: Durov has nothing to hide

Telegram responded to the allegations by stating that Durov has “nothing to hide” and travels regularly within Europe. “Telegram complies with EU law, including the Digital Services Act — moderation falls within industry standards,” the platform said in a statement on X.

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of that platform.”

The Russian embassy in France has demanded consular access to Durov and insisted that his rights be guaranteed. The embassy has said that France has so far avoided “involvement” in the Durov situation, and Russian diplomats are said to be in contact with Durov’s lawyer.

The geopolitical angle

Telegram, which has nearly 1 billion users, was founded in Russia in 2013 by Durov and his brother.

Durov fled Russia in 2014 in search of a new home for his company, trying out several cities including Berlin, Singapore, and San Francisco before finally settling in Dubai. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram became the primary source of unfiltered and sometimes graphic content from both sides of the conflict.

The app is widely used by Russian and Ukrainian officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Several European countries, including France, have raised concerns about the app, particularly regarding its security and data privacy.

Responding to Durov’s arrest, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Vienna, accused France of behaving like a “totalitarian” society.

“Some naive people still do not understand that if they play a more or less visible role in the international information space, it is not safe for them to visit countries that are moving towards much more totalitarian societies,” Ulyanov wrote on X.

Al Jazeera quoted Ben Aris, the editor-in-chief of bne IntelliNews, as saying that Durov is also in trouble in Russia for refusing to give the Kremlin access to electronic keys that allow them to read private Telegram messages. Russia began blocking Telegram in 2018 after the app refused to comply with a court order to allow state security services access to its users’ encrypted messages. “Durov was in Azerbaijan, where Putin was recently… He is probably trying to lobby Putin to stop blocking Telegram in the country,” Aris said.

Meanwhile, billionaire Elon Musk also criticized Durov’s arrest, writing on X: “It’s 2030 in Europe and you are being executed for liking a meme.”

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