Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested in Paris over 'lack of moderation' in app

In a dramatic development, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested by French police at Le Bourget airport near Paris. He will appear in court in Sunday (August 25).

The Franco-Russian billionaire, 39, was detained at the airport on Saturday evening after arriving from Baku, Azerbaijan, according to sources who spoke to AFP on conditions of anonymity.

Serious allegations 

France's OFMIN, an office dedicated to preventing violence against minors, issued an arrest warrant for him as part of a preliminary investigation. The charges centre on his alleged failure to curb criminal activities on Telegram, the popular encrypted messaging platform he founded.

The investigation are focused on lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app. Durov faces serious allegations, including fraud, drug trafficking, cyber bullying, organised crime, and the promotion of terrorism.

One investigator expressed surprise that Durov travelled to Paris despite being aware of the arrest warrant. "Enough of Telegram's impunity," the investigator said, highlighting frustration over the platform’s perceived lack of accountability, according to reports.

Strong stance

Dubai-based Telegram is known for its strong stance on user privacy and its refusal to disclose user information, positioning itself as a privacy-focused alternative to US-owned platforms. In an interview with Tucker Carlson in April, Durov explained that his motivation to create an encrypted messaging app stemmed from the pressure he faced from the Russian government while running VK, a social network he founded before leaving Russia in 2014.

Durov, who is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5bn, left Russia after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold.

After selling VK, Durov attempted to settle in Berlin, London, Singapore, and San Francisco, but ultimately chose Dubai for its favourable business environment and "neutrality". He insisted that Telegram’s appeal lies in its commitment to independence, privacy, and freedom. As of April, Durov claimed the platform had over 900 million active users.

Evading moderation laws

By basing Telegram in the UAE, Durov has managed to evade the moderation laws that countries in the West are increasingly imposing on large platforms to combat illegal content. Telegram’s structure, which allows groups of up to 200,000 members, has drawn criticism for facilitating the spread of false information and enabling the dissemination of neo-Nazi, paedophilic, conspiratorial, and terrorist content.

Moreover, after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has turned into the main source of unfiltered and misleading content from both sides about the war and the politics surrounding the conflict.

The platform has become what some analysts call 'a virtual battlefield' for the war, used heavily by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his officials, as well as the Russian government.

In contrast, competitor WhatsApp introduced limits on message forwarding in 2019 after being accused of enabling the spread of false information in India, leading to lynchings. Telegram, however, continues to resist such measures, maintaining its commitment to user privacy even as it faces growing scrutiny from global authorities.