Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messaging app was arrested at a French airport for 'lack of moderation' on his app.
France's anti-fraud office authorities, who work with French customs, arrested a French-Russian billionaire on Saturday evening when he landed at Bourget Airport on a flight from Azerbaijan, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.
Durov, 39, was wanted in France because 'lack of moderation' of the content on Telegram. This allegedly allowed the platform to be used for money laundering, drug trafficking, and sharing illegal content.
According to BFMTV, the Telegram founder had not visited France or Europe regularly since the arrest warrant was issued.
France had reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram, on charges including complicity in drug trafficking, crimes against children, and fraud.
These charges stem from allegations that Telegram's lack of content moderation facilitated illegal activities and that Durov failed to cooperate with law enforcement.
According to the Moscow Times and French local media, Durov's refusal to regulate content on his platform contributed to these accusations.
Durov, who now lives in Dubai and became a French citizen in August 2021, founded Telegram, which he claims has over 900 million users.
He also created the VKontakte social network but left Russia in 2014 after declining to share VKontakte user data with Russian security services.
Subsequently, Russia attempted but failed to block Telegram due to Durov's resistance to disclosing users' communications.
Telegram remains popular among Russian speakers and has become an important tool for sharing information about the war in Ukraine.
The platform is also reportedly used by the Russian military for communication.
