Who is Telegram founder Pavel Durov — and why was he arrested?

The chief executive officer of Telegram, Pavel Durov, was arrested at an airport on Saturday night outside Paris and placed in custody for alleged offenses related to the messaging app.

The 39-year-old Russian-born billionaire was reportedly accused of failing to mitigate the misuse of his social media and messaging platform for criminal activities.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Durov in connection to an investigation opened on July 8 into organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, and the distribution of pornographic images of minors on the platform.

Telegram said in a statement posted to X that it abides by EU laws and that CEO Durov has “nothing to hide.”

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” the company said.

Here are some key facts about Durov:

• In an interview with American commentator Tucker Carlson this year, Durov cited how he prioritizes freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and a free market — whether it be his decision to leave VK over a decade ago, or his personal life, freedom comes first.
• He founded Telegram in 2013, marketing it as an uncensored and neutral platform, accessible to people from all walks of life and views.

With over 800 million users globally, Durov — a French citizen — has built a massive platform in the form of Telegram.

Citizens in countries with repressive regimes have been known to use the app to share updates and news, holding discussions in real-time. It is also popular in both Russia and Ukraine, where it is used by government officials and the military on both sides of the ongoing conflict.

Now, French prosecutors are probing Durov for complicity in disseminating child sexual abuse material and in drug trafficking, fraud, abetting organized crime transactions, and refusing to share information with investigators when required by law. 

Following news of Durov’s detention, Russia’s embassy in France said in a message posted on Telegram that it “immediately asked the French authorities for clarification of the reasons and demanded to ensure the protection of his rights and provide consular access.”

The message said the embassy officials were in contact with Durov’s lawyer.

Concerns over illicit and harmful material on social media aren’t new, and regulators globally have been pushing to regulate large tech companies over the risks their platforms pose to society.

However, with Telegram, there are more specific concerns. It is known for having a more relaxed approach to content moderation compared to other major social platforms, such as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram services, Google’s YouTube, and ByteDance’s TikTok.

As such, Telegram has courted criticisms, financial penalties, and service restrictions from numerous governments due to concerns it lacks sufficient content moderation tools to detect and remove illegal and harmful content.

In its statement, Telegram said its moderation practices were “within industry standards and constantly improving.”

The platform has also gained a reputation for being used by fraud gangs, drug dealers, and even designated terrorist organizations, which have previously used the service to claim responsibility for attacks.

Notably, users are only required to provide a phone number to register for a Telegram — not a name, date of birth or any other identifiable information. This has made it prone to scammers, who set up fake profiles and exploit them to convince people to hand over their personal or financial information.

Telegram also offers users the ability to hold end-to-end encrypted conversations through its “secret chats” feature — much like WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage. It means no one but the sender and recipient can view messages, and is of major concern for governments scrutinizing the app.