The CEO and inventor of the messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, is a French-Russian millionaire. According to TF1 TV and BFM TV, who cited anonymous sources, Durov was detained on Saturday night at the Bourget airport south of Paris.
On its website, TF1 said that Durov was on his way in his private plane and mentioned that he was the subject of a French arrest warrant as part of an initial police probe.
According to TF1 and BFM, the inquiry was centered on Telegram’s lack of moderators, and authorities believed that this circumstance allowed criminal activities to continue on the messaging app unhindered.
According to French media, Durov could be charged on Sunday.
Almost one billion people use the encrypted Telegram app, which is especially popular in Russia, Ukraine, and the republic of the former Soviet Union. It comes in second place among the main social media networks, behind Wechat, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok.
