Paris: The billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app Pavel Durov was arrested at Bourget Airport near Paris on Saturday evening, reported Reuters citing unidentified sources of French media.
In his private jet
Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.
The Telegram CEO was travelling from Azerbaijan and was arrested at around 20:00 (18:00 GMT) on Saturday.
Arrest on criminal activity?
The investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.
No response from Telegram
Telegram did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, and both the French Interior Ministry and police declined to provide any remarks.
Meanwhile, Russia, which has previously attempted to ban Telegram, stated that it was taking steps to "clarify" Pavel Durov's situation.
Based in Dubai
Telegram, based in Dubai, was founded by Russian-born Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold.
Pavel Durov is a 39-year-old Russian-born entrepreneur who founded and owns the messaging app Telegram. This free-to-use platform competes with other social media services like Facebook's WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat. Telegram aims to reach over one billion active monthly users within the next year.
French citizenship
Durov, who is estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion, said some governments had sought to pressure him but the app, which has now 900 million active users, should remain a "neutral platform" and not a "player in geopolitics".
In August 2021, Durov acquired French citizenship. According to media reports, he has also obtained UAE citizenship.
Russia began blocking Telegram in 2018 after the app declined to comply with a court order demanding access to its users' encrypted messages. (with Reuters inputs)
