{"id":3363,"date":"2024-08-25T03:00:40","date_gmt":"2024-08-25T03:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/25\/telegram-founder-pavel-durov-arrested-in-france-reports-say\/"},"modified":"2024-08-25T03:00:40","modified_gmt":"2024-08-25T03:00:40","slug":"telegram-founder-pavel-durov-arrested-in-france-reports-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tradetrovex.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/25\/telegram-founder-pavel-durov-arrested-in-france-reports-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in France, reports say"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of encrypted messaging app Telegram, has been arrested in France, according to local reports.<\/p>\n

The 39-year-old tech chief was reportedly detained after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport on the outskirts of Paris.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

News broadcasters BFMTV and TF1 have quoted unnamed sources as saying the Russian-born entrepreneur \u2013 who became a French citizen in 2021 \u2013 was the subject of a search warrant.<\/p>\n

Both outlets suggest the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram<\/strong> and potential criminal activity by users.<\/p>\n

Neither French police, the Interior Ministry, nor Telegram have commented on those claims.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Telegram is one of the most downloaded apps in the world, with predictions it will achieve close to one billion users within a year<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It offers end-to-end encryption \u2013 effectively protecting data from being intercepted \u2013 and has a strong focus on privacy.<\/p>\n

Telegram is particularly influential in Russia<\/strong>, Ukraine<\/strong> and the republics of the former Soviet Union.<\/p>\n

This focus makes the app popular with pro-democracy movements and other protesters in countries with strict laws.<\/p>\n

It has become a critical source of information on Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, and is used heavily by both Moscow<\/strong> and Kyiv<\/strong> officials.<\/p>\n

It is ranked as one of the major social media<\/strong> platforms and claims to have more than 950 million monthly active users.<\/p>\n

But it has also been used for criminal activity and recently by far-right activists who sparked riots<\/strong> in the UK over the Southport stabbings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It is unclear what Mr Durov was arrested for but BFMTV reported the warrant concerned the app\u2019s possible use in money laundering, drug trafficking or sharing of child sex abuse content.<\/p>\n

The app\u2019s founder, owner and chief executive left Russia in 2014 after losing control of his previous social media company Vkontakte (VK).<\/p>\n

He refused to comply with government demands to shut down opposition groups on the platform and would not hand over data on Ukrainian protesters to security agencies.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Russia\u2019s Foreign Ministry said it was taking steps to \u201cclarify\u201d whether he had been arrested.<\/p>\n

Mr Durov was naturalised as French in August 2021 and is also a citizen of the United Arab Emirates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Writing on X, US commentator Tucker Carlson believes Mr Durov has been detained in France because of his refusal to \u201ccensor the truth\u201d.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the American TV personality in April, Mr Durov said he was determined to keep Telegram \u201cneutral\u201d and \u201cfree from geopolitics\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This post appeared first on sky.com<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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