Durov was travelling on his private plane and was targeted under an arrest warrant in France, TF1 said on its website.
She said the investigation was focused on “the lack of moderators on the Telegram app,” and that police “consider this situation allowing criminal activity to continue unchecked on the app.”
Telegram officials did not comment on the matter, nor did the French Interior Ministry or police.
TF1 said Durov was arrested when he was coming from Azerbaijan.
Russian-born Durov founded Telegram in 2013, but left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition groups on his social media platform VK, which he later sold.
Durov is called the “Russian Zuckerberg”, after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Durov, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at $15.5 billion, said some governments have sought to pressure him, but the app, which currently has 900 million active users, should remain a “neutral platform and not a player in the geopolitical situation.”
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