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Messaging app Telegram said its chief executive had “nothing to hide” after French authorities arrested Pavel Durov at the weekend for allegedly failing to moderate content.
In a surprise move that escalated the global debate over freedom of speech and raised tensions with Moscow, the Russian-born billionaire was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget airport as he arrived in the country on a private jet from Azerbaijan on Saturday evening, according to French news agency AFP.
The Paris prosecutor’s office has confirmed that an active investigation is underway into Durov, and French media reported that he is accused of failing to effectively control criminal activities on the platform.
In a statement on Sunday, Dubai-based Telegram said its moderation was “within industry standards and is constantly improving,” adding that it complies with EU law including the Digital Services Act. Laws that came into effect this year require platforms to more closely monitor harmful content and disinformation or risk being fined or restricted in the bloc.
“It is absurd to suggest that a platform or its owners should be held responsible for the misuse of that platform,” Telegram said. “We are waiting for a quick resolution to this situation. Telegram stands with all of you.”
Durov’s arrest marks the most drastic national action against a social media executive to date and threatens to further fuel a global debate about whether platforms should prioritize online safety over free speech. Free speech advocates such as Elon Musk have criticized the French authorities, with the billionaire owner of rival platform X posting the hashtag “#freepavel” on his platform.
French authorities have been investigating whether Telegram’s moderation failures have facilitated illegal activities including terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud and child exploitation, according to several French television channels. Some reports have suggested that a warrant has been issued for Durov’s arrest, but Telegram said on Sunday that the businessman “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.”
Durov is known as the “Russian Mark Zuckerberg” after co-founding the country’s most popular social network, VKontakte, in his hometown of St Petersburg in 2007. He fled Russia in 2014 after allegedly refusing to comply with Moscow’s demands to access the data of Ukrainian users in protest at the pro-Russian government.
Founded in 2013, Telegram has grown immensely popular, reaching nearly 1 billion users and becoming one of the key communication tools in conflict zones and humanitarian crises such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Durov has taken a hands-off approach to censorship and sees the app as impenetrable to government hacking. However, some researchers have warned that it has become a hub for illegal activity and extremism as a result.
While Durov currently holds dual French-UAE citizenship, his Russian roots have prompted some lawmakers in Moscow call for his release and said the arrest was politically motivated, while the Russian embassy in France said it had requested consular access to Durov.
In recent years, Durov has tried to distance himself and the app from Russia, amid criticism that the Kremlin may still have ties or influence over Telegram.
“He thought his biggest problem was in Russia, so he left… he wanted to become an excellent ‘citizen of the world’, living well without a homeland,” former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now a popular right-wing commentator, wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
“He miscalculated. To our common enemy, he is still Russian — unpredictable and dangerous, of a different bloodline.”
