The billionaire founder of the messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, was arrested on Saturday evening at Le Bourget airport outside Paris, French media TF1 TV and BFM TV reported, citing unnamed sources. Durov’s arrest is part of a police investigation into Telegram’s lack of moderators, which authorities say allows criminal activity to develop.
The Telegram founder flew to France from Azerbaijan on his private jet and was arrested at around 8 p.m., the outlets said, noting that the arrest warrant in France was due to a preliminary police investigation. The arrest took place at around 8 p.m. Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Reuters to comment. The French Interior Ministry and police have not issued any statements.
Dubai-based Telegram was founded by Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he later sold. Durov, who is worth $15.5 billion (£13.8 billion) according to Forbes, said some governments had tried to pressure him but that the app, which now has 900 million active users, should remain a “neutral platform” and not a “player in geopolitics”.
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