Russian-French billionaire Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, was reportedly arrested at Bourget Airport near Paris on Saturday evening, according to French media outlets TF1 and BFM TV, both of which cited unnamed sources. Durov, who was traveling on his private jet, was allegedly the subject of an arrest warrant issued in France as part of an ongoing preliminary police investigation.
According to TF1, the investigation revolves around allegations that Telegram lacks sufficient moderation, which authorities believe has allowed criminal activities to go unchecked on the platform. Durov could potentially face indictment on Sunday, as per French media reports.
Telegram, which boasts close to a billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics. It ranks among the major social media platforms, alongside Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
Telegram didn't immediately respond to the request for comment from Reuters, and both the French Interior Ministry and police have declined to comment on this matter.
Pavel Durov, who was born in Russia, co-founded Telegram with his brother in 2013. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition groups on his VKontakte social media platform, which he later sold. "I would rather be free than take orders from anyone," Durov(CEO of telegram ) told U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson in April, referencing his decision to leave Russia and his subsequent search for a new base for his company, which included stays in Berlin, London, Singapore, and San Francisco.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become a key platform for unfiltered and sometimes graphic or misleading content from both sides of the conflict, as well as the politics surrounding it. Some analysts have described the platform as a "virtual battlefield" for the war, heavily utilized by both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the Russian government.
Telegram, which offers users a way to evade official scrutiny, has also become one of the few sources where Russians can access independent news about the war, particularly after the Kremlin increased restrictions on independent media following the invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian foreign ministry stated that its embassy in Paris is working to clarify the situation regarding Durov and urged Western non-governmental organizations to demand his release. Russia had previously attempted to block Telegram in 2018 after the app refused to comply with a court order to grant state security services access to its users' encrypted messages. Despite the ban, Telegram remained widely available in Russia, and the move led to mass protests in Moscow and criticism from NGOs.
TF1 reported that Durov, who is based in Dubai and whose wealth is estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, was traveling from Azerbaijan when he was arrested around 8 p.m. (1800 GMT). Durov has previously stated that some governments have attempted to pressure him but that Telegram should remain a "neutral platform" rather than a "player in geopolitics." However, the platform's growing popularity has drawn increased scrutiny from several European countries, including France, over concerns related to security and data breaches.
In response to the arrest, Russia's representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, and several other Russian politicians quickly accused France of authoritarianism—a criticism that Moscow faced when it placed demands on Durov in 2014 and attempted to ban Telegram in 2018.
Musk, who owns the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), reacted to the reports of Durov's detention by stating, "It's 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme." Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently ended his U.S. presidential campaign and endorsed Donald Trump, tweeted that the need to protect free speech "has never been more urgent." Several Russian bloggers have called for protests at French embassies worldwide at noon on Sunday.