The founder of the encrypted messaging app Telegram has been arrested in Paris to face possible charges arising from his alleged failure to halt criminal activity on the platform, reports The Times.
The Russian-born billionaire was arrested as he arrived at Paris-Le Bourget airport aboard his private jet from Azerbaijan, prompting an outcry and charges of state censorship from American figures including Robert F Kennedy Jr and Elon Musk. The report continues:
French judicial authorities on Sunday reportedly extended the detention of Pavel Durov, 39, who faces possible charges arising from his alleged failure to halt criminal activity on the platform.
Durov, whose encrypted messaging app has 900 million users, appeared before a judge on Sunday to be informed of an array of possible charges initiated by prosecutors acting for state agencies monitoring internet crime.
A warrant for his arrest was issued by French prosecutors who allege that Telegram’s encryption and failure to moderate content amounts to complicity in terrorism, drug dealing, fraud, money laundering and other offences. An investigator called Telegram the “number-one platform for international crime”.
Investigators were surprised that Durov, who was born in Russia and holds French citizenship as well as Russian and Emirati, flew in with his bodyguard and female assistant to have dinner in Paris, given that he was wanted by French police. “Perhaps he felt untouchable,” an investigator told Le Figaro news site. “That’s enough of Telegram’s impunity.”
Another official involved in the investigation told TF1, the most popular French television channel: “He allowed an incomparable number of crimes to be committed on his platform and did nothing to moderate or co-operate with the authorities.”
Kennedy, who last week ended his independent presidential campaign and backed Donald Trump, tweeted: “France just arrested Pavel Durov … The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent.”
Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News commentator, said Durov’s arrest was “a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth on behalf of governments and intelligence agencies”. He added: “Darkness is descending on the formerly free world.”
Elon Musk, the owner of X, weighed in with support for the Telegram chief, retweeting critical messages with the hashtag #FreePavel and posting “Liberté, Liberté, Liberté”, a nod to the French state motto. Musk added: “It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.”Durov’s lawyer, Dmitry Agranovsky, called the charges against his clients “absolutely ridiculous”, telling the Russian news agency RIA Novosti: “The Telegram messenger reportedly has about a billion users. And there you can find a message for any taste and colour, on any topic — from the moon programme to the flat Earth. It’s the same as blaming a car manufacturer, some giant auto concern, for the fact that its cars are used for criminal purposes, or blaming them for an accident.”
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