Topline
Billionaire Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested in France on Saturday, multiple French officials confirmed, amid an apparent investigation into whether Telegram—a freewheeling and sometimes controversial messaging and social networking platform—allows crime on its app in part due to a lack of moderation.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was reportedly arrested in relation to an investigation into whether Telegram is used for criminal activity.
Corbis via Getty Images
Key Facts
Durov, 39, was detained after landing at Le Bourget Airport in Paris from Azerbaijan on Saturday night, after an arrest warrant was issued, according to multiple outlets, citing unnamed sources.
He was reportedly arrested as part of an investigation into Telegram’s content moderation practices, with investigators believing the messaging app—which has over 950 million users—hasn’t mitigated criminal users or properly cooperated with law enforcement when the app is used for drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud.
In a statement posted to LinkedIn, Jean-Michel Bernigaud, secretary of France’s police agency focused on preventing violence against minors, confirmed Durov’s arrest and said it was related to the lack of moderation and cooperation of Telegram in fighting child sex crimes.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday morning he had seen “false information” about Durov’s arrest, adding it was “in no way a political decision” and France is and will remain “deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship.”
A lawyer for Durov—who is from Russia but hasn’t lived there in about a decade, and is now Dubai-based—reportedly blasted the arrest, telling Russian media it was like a car manufacturer being blamed for an accident or being used to transport drugs.
The Russian Embassy in France said in a statement posted to X around 5 a.m. EDT on Sunday that it asked French authorities for clarification on why Durov was detained, but that France has not answered the request.
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What To Watch For
Durov is set to appear in court in the coming days, according to Agence France-Presse.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Durov to have a net worth of about $15.5 billion, making him the 150th wealthiest person in the world as of Sunday morning.
Key Background
Telegram is a messaging platform that competes with apps like WhatsApp and Signal that Durov created in 2013, years after he founded Vkontakte, Russia’s largest social network. The app has end-to-end encrypted messaging, which means messages are not accessible to anyone but the sender and receiver, including the messaging service. It’s also known for its social networking groups and channels: After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Telegram became a key source of communication and is regularly used by both Russian and Ukrainian leaders. It’s controversial because of its well-known loose approach to moderation, which has led extremist content to appear on the app, though Durov has defended it as a safe haven for free speech and privacy (the company says it blocks terrorist groups). For example, after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, the app saw an increase in extremists and conspiracy theorists using it after being removed from American social media platforms, the Times reported.
Surprising Fact
Durov, who was born in Russia, fled the country in 2014 after he refused to comply with governmental requests to release data from Ukrainian protest leaders or shut down opposition communities on Vkontakte, The New York Times reported. He initially resigned from Vkontakte and said his freedom had been reduced, Reuters reported, but he later said he was fired after trying to withdraw his resignation. Durov is a citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates, and Telegram is now based in Dubai. Telegram was banned in Russia from 2018 after its leadership wouldn’t comply with a court order requesting state security services access to its users’ encrypted messages, Reuters reported—though the ban was overturned in 2020 after two years of not being successfully enforced.
Contra
Durov’s arrest drew criticism from other social media executives, including billionaire X owner Elon Musk, who posted a video of Durov praising X with the caption “#FreePavel.” Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of Rumble—a video sharing site popular with conservatives—said France “crossed a red line by arresting” Durov.
Further Reading
