In a surprising turn of events, Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and CEO of Telegram, was reportedly detained at Bourget Airport near Paris on Saturday evening. French news outlets TF1 and BFM TV reported that Durov was arrested under a French warrant linked to an investigation into Telegram’s alleged role in facilitating criminal activities.
Durov, who was traveling on his private jet from Azerbaijan, was apprehended around 8:00 PM local time (18:00 GMT) by the Air Transport Gendarmerie. The arrest was executed based on a French search warrant issued by the Office Central de Lutte Contre les Atteintes à l’Environnement et à la Santé Publique (OFMIN) of the French judicial police. The warrant became active only upon his arrival on French soil, placing Durov under the custody of the National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF).
French authorities accuse Telegram, the Dubai-based messaging platform, of enabling various crimes, including terrorism, narcotics trafficking, and fraud, by failing to moderate illegal activities on its platform. A source close to the investigation stated, “He allowed an incalculable number of offences and crimes to be committed on his platform, for which he did nothing to moderate or cooperate.”
The arrest of the 39-year-old Franco-Russian entrepreneur, who was accompanied by a bodyguard and a woman at the time, has sparked significant reactions. The price of Toncoin (TON), a cryptocurrency linked to Durov and his brother, Nikolai, plummeted following the news, dropping 13% to $5.96.
The incident also drew attention from American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, who expressed his views on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Carlson highlighted the irony of Durov’s arrest by a Western nation, contrasting it with his earlier defiance of Russian government control over his previous social media venture, VK. “Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company, Telegram. But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech. It was a Western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic NATO member, that locked him away,” Carlson posted.
Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition groups on VK, later sold the platform and launched Telegram. With an estimated fortune of $15.5 billion and a user base of 900 million active users, Durov has consistently maintained that Telegram should remain a neutral platform, free from geopolitical influence.
As of now, Telegram has not responded to requests for comment, and the French Interior Ministry and police have also remained silent on the arrest. The situation continues to develop as more details emerge about the investigation and the potential implications for Telegram and its founder.
