The arrest of the 39-year-old expertise billionaire prompted on Sunday a warning from Moscow to Paris that he ought to be accorded his rights and criticism from X proprietor Elon Musk who mentioned that free speech in Europe was below assault.
There was no official affirmation from France of the arrest, however two French police sources and one Russian supply who spoke on situation of anonymity mentioned that Durov was arrested shortly after arriving at Le Bourget airport on a non-public jet from Azerbaijan.
One of the 2 French police sources mentioned that forward of the jet’s arrival, police had noticed he was on the passenger record and moved to arrest him as a result of he was the topic of an arrest warrant in France.
“Telegram abides by EU legal guidelines, together with the Digital Services Act — its moderation is inside trade requirements and consistently bettering,” Telegram mentioned in a statement on the arrest.
“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to cover and travels continuously in Europe,” it mentioned. “It is absurd to assert {that a} platform or its proprietor are liable for abuse of that platform.”
Durov, who has twin French and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was arrested as a part of a preliminary police investigation into allegedly permitting a variety of crimes as a result of an absence of moderators on Telegram and an absence of cooperation with police, a 3rd French police supply mentioned.
A cybersecurity gendarmerie unit and France’s nationwide anti-fraud police unit are main the investigation, that supply mentioned, including that the investigative choose was specialised in organised crime.
“We’re awaiting a immediate decision of this case. Telegram is with you all,” Telegram mentioned.
The French Interior Ministry, police and Paris prosecutor’s workplace had no remark.
Russian lawmaker Maria Butina, who spent 15 months in US jail for performing as an unregistered Russian agent, mentioned Durov “is a political prisoner – a sufferer of a witch-hunt by the West.” Durov’s arrest led information bulletins in Russia.
Telegram, primarily based in Dubai, was based by Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after he refused to adjust to calls for to close down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he has offered.
The encrypted software, with near 1 billion customers, is especially influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the previous Soviet Union. It is ranked as one of many main social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat.
Telegram’s Origin and Influence
Durov, who’s estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion (roughly Rs. 1,29,963 crore), mentioned in April some governments had sought to stress him, however the app ought to stay a impartial platform and never a “participant in geopolitics”.
Durov got here up with the concept for an encrypted messaging app whereas going through stress in Russia. His youthful brother, Nikolai, designed the encryption.
“I might slightly be free than to take orders from anybody,” Durov mentioned in April about his exit from Russia and seek for a house for his firm, which included stints in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco.
After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has turn out to be the principle supply of unfiltered – and generally graphic and deceptive – content material from each side concerning the warfare and the politics surrounding the battle.
The platform has turn out to be what some analysts name “a digital battlefield” for the warfare, used closely by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his officers, in addition to the Russian authorities.
Russia’s international ministry mentioned it had despatched a word to Paris demanding entry to Durov, though it mentioned that he had French citizenship.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev mentioned that Durov had misjudged by fleeing Russia and considering that he would by no means need to cooperate with the safety providers overseas.
Medvedev, who commonly makes use of Telegram to criticise and insult the West, mentioned Durov wished to be a “sensible ‘man of the world’ who lives splendidly and not using a Motherland.”
“He miscalculated,” Medvedev mentioned. “For all our frequent enemies now, he’s Russian – and due to this fact unpredictable and harmful.”
Russia started blocking Telegram in 2018 after the app refused to adjust to a court docket order granting state safety providers entry to its customers’ encrypted messages.
The motion interrupted many third-party providers, however had little impact on the provision of Telegram there. The ban order, nonetheless, sparked mass protests in Moscow and criticism from NGOs.
Platform Under Scrutiny
Telegram says it “is dedicated to defending consumer privateness and human rights comparable to freedom of speech and meeting.”
Durov has beforehand accused US regulation enforcement companies such because the FBI of searching for to get a backdoor into the platform. The FBI has not commented on these allegations.
Telegram’s rising reputation, nonetheless, has prompted scrutiny from a number of international locations in Europe, together with France, on safety and knowledge breach considerations.
Musk, billionaire proprietor of X, the social media platform previously generally known as Twitter, mentioned after experiences of Durov’s detention: “It’s 2030 in Europe and also you’re being executed for liking a meme.”
Outside the French embassy in Moscow, a lone protester held an indication studying: “Liberté pour Pavel Durov”.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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