2024-08-25 20:05:35
Telegram boss Pavel Durov is said to have refused to cooperate in important investigations. That is why the French police searched for him – and apparently found him.
The founder and head of the messenger service Telegram, Pavel Durov, has been arrested in Paris. As the French television station TF1 reports, the 39-year-old was taken away by investigators on the tarmac of Le Bourget airport on Saturday evening. The TV station BFM TV also reported the arrest. Durov was accompanied by a woman and his bodyguard.
The 39-year-old is accused of refusing to cooperate with the authorities in the investigation of criminal offenses. According to TF1, these included drug trafficking and the distribution of child pornography via Telegram. Due to the allegations, an arrest warrant was issued against Durov.
German authorities have also accused Telegram in the past of not responding or only responding very inadequately to criminal activities on the platform. In October 2023, for example, the German government announced in response to a CDU inquiry that Telegram had not responded to BKA’s requests for inventory data since June 2022, contrary to its legal obligation.
Telegram has been under fire for some time. During the Corona crisis, the messenger service was seen as a melting pot of conspiracy theories. Things didn’t really calm down around Telegram afterward either. In France, the app recently came under scrutiny because games from Ligue 1, the country’s top football league, were allegedly streamed illegally.