Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested at Paris airport
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov speaks in Barcelona, Spain on February 23, 2016. Durov was arrested in Paris on Aug. 24, 2024.(Photo by AOP.Press/Corbis via Getty Images)
The CEO and founder of Telegram, a popular encrypted messaging service, has been arrested at the Paris airport, broadcasters LCI and TF1 report.
Pavel Durov, 39, was detained on allegations that his encrypted platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and allowing the sharing of content linked to sexual exploitation of minors.
Telegram has repeatedly been criticized by Western governments for lack of content moderating on the messaging service.
Pavel, a native of Russia, now lives in Dubai and holds dual citizenship to both the United Arab Emirates and France. Pavel left Russia in 2014 after he refused to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform. He later sold that company.
Telegram is based in Dubai and, according to its own data, has over 900 million monthly active users.