Investigation into Pavel Durov relates to app’s alleged failure to stop spread of child sexual abuse material
Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire co-founder of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested in France in connection with an investigation into criminal activity on the platform and a lack of cooperation with law enforcement, prosecutors announced on Monday.
Durov, who has French citizenship, was detained at Le Bourget airport, just outside Paris, on Saturday evening after arriving from Azerbaijan on his private jet. His surprise arrest has sparked debate over free speech worldwide and led to an outcry in Moscow.
The Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the investigation concerned crimes related to illicit transactions, child sexual abuse, fraud and the refusal to communicate information to authorities.
Earlier in the day the French president, Emmanuel Macron, gave the first confirmation that Durov had been arrested as part of a judicial inquiry in relation to Telegram.
“In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights,” Macron wrote on X, adding that the arrest was “in no way a political decision”. “It is up to the judiciary, in full independence, to enforce the law,” he said.
A senior official at Ofmin, a French agency set up last year to prevent violence against children, said Durov’s arrest was linked to Telegram’s failure to properly fight crime on the app, including the spread of child sexual abuse material.
“At the heart of this case is the lack of moderation and cooperation of the platform (which has almost 1 billion users), in particular in the fight against crimes against children,” Jean-Michel Bernigaud, the secretary general of Ofmin, wrote on LinkedIn.
