Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has been arrested by French police at an airport north of Paris. Durov was reportedly detained after his private jet landed at Le Bourget Airport, French media outlets disclosed.
Officials confirmed that the 39-year-old was apprehended under a warrant related to offenses connected to the popular messaging app, Telegram. Russia’s embassy in France is currently taking “immediate steps” to clarify the situation, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency.
Durov had been traveling on his private jet, as reported by French television channel TF1. Telegram enjoys significant popularity in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet Union states. The app was banned in Russia in 2018 following Durov’s refusal to hand over user data, but the ban was lifted in 2021.
Telegram, which Durov founded in 2013, is now ranked among the top social media platforms globally, alongside Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat. Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VKontakte social media platform, which he later sold.
