Paris, August 25: Pavel Durov, the chief executive of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested by French police at Le Bourget Airport in Paris on Saturday evening.
Pavel Durov arrived at Le Bourget Airport in Paris on his private jet. 39-year-old Durov has been arrested under a warrant for crimes related to the messaging app.
Dubai-based Telegram was founded by Russian-born Durov. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to accept the government’s demand to suppress the voice of opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he has sold.
Russia also banned this app in 2018 for refusing to hand over user data but then it was removed in 2021. Telegram, which has influence in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet countries, is one of the most prominent social media platforms. Its target is to reach one billion users next year.
Telegram is one of the few platforms where content related to the Russia-Ukraine war can be found.
