Telegram’s founder and CEO was reportedly arrested at an airport in France.
Billionaire Pavel Durov was reportedly detained by police as he disembarked from his private jet after arriving from Azerbaijan.
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Durov was arrested by GTA (Air Transport Gendarmerie) officers at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of Paris at around 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The 39-year-old Franco-Russian was accompanied by his bodyguard and a woman, reported the French news portal TF1 Info.
According to his wanted file, Durov had arrived directly from Azerbaijan.
The Telegram founder had a search warrant issued by the French authorities on the basis of an investigation.
Authorities believe that Telegram’s lack of moderation, its cooperation with law enforcement and the tools it provides (disposable numbers and cryptocurrency) make it an accomplice in drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud.
However, the search warrant would only be valid if Pavel Durov were on British territory.
Durov is a Russian-born entrepreneur and programmer, best known as the founder of the social network VK (VKontakte) and the messaging app Telegram.
Durov was born on October 10, 1984 in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), Russia, and is often called the “Russian Mark Zuckerberg” due to the similarities between VK and Facebook.
In 2006, Durov, along with his older brother Nikolai, launched VKontakte, which quickly became Russia’s most popular social network.
His time at VK was not without controversy, however, as Durov clashed with Russian authorities over demands to censor content and provide user data to the government.
In 2014, under increasing pressure, Durov was forced to sell his stake in VK and left the company.
After leaving VK, Durov focused on Telegram, a cloud-based messaging app that he and his brother Nikolai launched in 2013.
Telegram gained widespread notoriety for its strong focus on privacy and security, offering end-to-end encrypted messaging, channels for broadcasting to large audiences, and features such as self-destructing messages.
Telegram is popular with users around the world due to its commitment to privacy, but has also been criticized by governments who claim the app is used by criminals and terrorists to communicate undetected.
LIFE IN EXILE
Pavel Durov lives in self-imposed exile, primarily because of his conflicts with the Russian government over issues such as censorship, privacy and political freedom.
The main reason for Durov’s exile lies in his time as CEO of VKontakte (VK), the social media platform he founded.
During the anti-Putin protests in 2011 and 2012, Russian authorities demanded that Durov hand over personal data of protest organizers and close opposition groups on VK.
Durov refused to comply with these demands, which put him on a collision course with the Russian government.
In 2014, Durov was again pressured by Russian authorities, this time over his refusal to block a VK group that supported Ukraine’s Euromaidan protests and his refusal to hand over Ukrainian users’ data to the FSB (domestic intelligence service).
Following these incidents, he faced legal problems and his control over VK was weakened.
In April 2014, Durov was forced to resign as CEO of VK and soon after sold his remaining shares in the company.
The resignation and sale were probably not voluntary, but were the result of immense pressure from the Russian authorities and possibly also from businessmen close to the Kremlin.
After losing control of VK, Durov decided to leave Russia, arguing that the country was “incompatible with Internet business at the moment.”
Since leaving Russia in 2014, Durov has lived in self-imposed exile. He became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis through an economic citizenship program and has lived in various countries, adopting a nomadic lifestyle.
Durov continued to fight for privacy, freedom of expression and resistance to government surveillance – principles that often conflict with Russian government policies.
