Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside of Paris while traveling on his private jet. French network TF1 reports that he was wanted in France due to an investigation into Telegram’s lack of moderation, which authorities believe has enabled criminal activities to continue on the platform.
Telegram representatives did not provide immediate comment, and French authorities remained silent on the situation. Durov, known for his principles of a neutral platform, left Russia in 2014 due to government pressure to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform.
Despite criticism, Durov stands by Telegram’s approach, stating the platform blocks accounts promoting violence. While Ukrainian military intelligence acknowledges the risks posed by Telegram, they also recognize its benefits for communication with people from occupied regions.
Ukrainian hackers launch large-scale cyberattack on Russian Internet providers, military-related companies, source says.
The recent attack affected servers, office computers, websites, and cloud storage.