Russian-born Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is facing up to four days in detention after his arrest in France for an inquiry into allegations that his platform enables terrorism, organised crime, drug trafficking, cyber-bullying and fraud.
Durov was arrested on Saturday after he landed in Paris on his private jet and placed in custody that could last up to 96 hours, the Guardian reported. “Enough of Telegram’s impunity,” the report quoted one of the investigators as saying.
Durov has been a French citizen since 2021 but has been living in exile — primarily in Dubai — which is also currently Telegram’s headquarters. French investigators say Durov has failed to take action against illegal activities on Telegram, a platform that has come under increasing scrutiny for allowing “hate speech, disinformation, sharing of images of child abuse and other illegal content,” the report said.
The platform’s “unbreakable” end-to-end encryption has also made it a medium of choice for extremists and conspiracy theorists, it said. Telegram has also emerged as a key platform for information around Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, used widely by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russians looking for “unfiltered” updates on the ongoing war, it added.
French authorities tasked with preventing violence against minors had a warrant against Durov, leading some to question his choice to land in Paris. “He miscalculated,” Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s security council, told The Guardian.
Durov’s arrest, meanwhile, has fuelled outcry on free speech, and received criticism from former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Tesla chief Elon Musk.
The arrest of @Durov is an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association. I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 25, 2024
Meanwhile, Telegram said in a statement on Monday that Durov “has nothing to hide.” And that “it is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”
Read the full report: The Guardian
- Vishakha Saxena
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