A report that has rocked the technology industry states that Pavel Durov, the chief executive officer and founder of the widely used telecommunication application Telegram, has been detained at the Bourget airport close to Paris. The arrest is said to involve offenses associated with the running of his firm’s website.
Local sources say that the 39-year-old Franco-Russian billionaire was detained on his private plane while en route from Azerbaijan. Durov has been arrested in France based on a warrant from the authorities, which accuses him of fraud, drug trafficking, and cyberbullying, as well as involvement in an organized crime ring.
The inquiry led by France’s OFMIN agency, which focuses on protecting children from violence, also accuses Durov of neglecting to fight the dangerous use of the app. The platform, which has been emphasizing efficient cryptographic options, has been criticized by several European countries, such as France, over its security and breach issues.
Durov, who relocated to Latvia from Russia in 2013 after the setting up of Telegram, has been a thorn in the flesh, and his app has grown to be an ‘anonymous’ platform where all forms of information, including gruesome images and videos, are shared during the Russia- Ukraine conflict. The platform is widely used by the officials of both parties with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as well as the Russian government.
The arrest has provoked a furious reaction in the Russian authorities, the Russian embassy in France demanded to have consular access to him and guarantee his protection of rights. Russian diplomats also criticized France for the so-called “totalitarianism,” and some Russian bloggers began to stage manifestations near French embassies throughout the world.
In the same regard, business tycoon Elon Musk also chimed in, condemning Durov’s arrest while arguing that Europe is heading towards totalitarianism.
Nevertheless, Telegram is still actively used by users subscribed to its platform, which is estimated to be around one billion, and so it plays a significant role within the digital environment. However, the recent arrest of the company’s founder has generated certain concerns touching on the company’s future as well as freedoms of privacy and speech online.
