2024-03-29 09:33:08
The Kremlin has warned Telegram owner Pavel Durov to be more careful after reports emerged that the app was used to help recruit the gunmen who carried out the attack on a concert hall near Moscow, Reuters reported.
Telegram, currently headquartered in Dubai, was founded by Durov, who left Russia in 2014. The 39-year-old man was born in Russia but lives in Dubai and has dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates, according to Telegram.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news site Life that he had no plans to block the app, but Durov should be more careful.
“We will expect increased attention from Pavel Durov, because this unique and phenomenal resource from a technological point of view, which actually grew before our eyes, is increasingly becoming a tool in the hands of terrorists, used for terrorist purposes,” said Peskov.
The state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the attackers were recruited through a radical Telegram channel belonging to the Islamic State-Khorasan group.
Durov’s fortune was estimated by “Forbes” at 15.5 billion dollars, writes BTA.
Over the past 2 days, the Russian communications regulator “Roskomnadzor” has restricted access to 11 channels in “Telegram” that have “content related to terrorism”, RIA Novosti also reported.
“We have accelerated the detection and verification of channels in Telegram. More specifically, we register the creation of channels that allegedly report new terrorist attacks. They are created with the aim of intimidating the population. In the last two days, access to 11 such channels,” said the regulator’s statement, quoted by TASS.