Paris accuses Pavel Durov of not doing enough against terrorists and criminals on his controversial messenger service. This plays a special role in the war in Ukraine.
The founder of the news app Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been arrested in France.
The arrest of Russian-French tech billionaire Pavel Durov has triggered strong reactions. Authorities arrested the founder of the controversial messaging app Telegram on Saturday evening as he landed in his private jet from Azerbaijan near Paris. According to media reports citing sources in the security forces, there was an official arrest warrant against him. Durov, who lives in Dubai, is accused of not doing enough against drug trafficking, promoting terrorism, and violence against minors.
Launched in 2013, the communication platform Telegram claims to have 800 million users, making it one of the top five in the world. It is particularly popular in Eastern Europe but is also widely used in other regions, such as India and Latin America. Users can communicate directly or disseminate and receive information through specialized channels. Durov prides himself on rarely intervening in content; libertarian circles celebrate Telegram as a bastion of free speech.
Playground for all sorts of groups
For example, in Hong Kong, the messenger service has indeed served as a platform to organize democratic protests in the past. The other side of the coin is, of course, that Islamists, mobsters, conspiracy theorists, and propagandists also frequent the messaging service.
The day after Durov’s arrest, Telegram emphasized in a statement that the company had not violated European law. All applicable rules were being followed, including the new Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to enforce more stringent action against illegal content and activities on large online platforms.
Experts, however, criticize that chats are not automatically encrypted and Durov does not provide transparency about the content interventions he makes. Together with his brother, he wields practically unregulated power.
Durov’s relationship with Russia is also opaque. The 39-year-old left his home country in 2014 when the regime demanded that he hand over user data of opposition members on the platform Vkontakte, which he also founded. Four years later, Moscow reportedly failed in its attempts to block Telegram.
However, there have always been voices that questioned Durov’s oppositional stance. These have intensified since the beginning of the war in Ukraine: on the one hand, there have been several cases in which Russian regime opponents were arrested because the secret service apparently monitored their channels. Experts are divided on whether this is the result of Durov’s collaboration or whether the security gaps are so significant that Russian state hackers can easily exploit them.
On the other hand, the Russian army uses Telegram as a central communication channel in its war against Kyiv. While the Ukrainians also disseminate important information via the messenger, their armed forces have been prohibited from using it for security reasons. Security authorities believe that the chats are not adequately protected against Russian infiltration. The invaders are evidently not troubled by such concerns.
Rumors on Kremlin-affiliated Telegram channels
The reactions to the arrest are noteworthy: Elon Musk called for Durov’s release on platform X, alongside figures like Edward Snowden, who like to present themselves as opponents of the “Western mainstream.” In Moscow, some liberals as well as propagandists immediately rallied behind the campaign. A Kremlin-affiliated group organized a protest in front of the French embassy, and the Russian representation in Paris demanded consular access to the dual citizen of both states.
Additionally, numerous rumors circulate on Kremlin-affiliated Telegram channels suggesting that the West is trying to gain access to the communication of Russian military and security circles through the arrest. There have been no official statements from Paris regarding the arrest so far. However, Durov is expected to be charged on Sunday.