Telegram on Sunday questioned the reasons for France’s detention of CEO Pavel Durov, the messaging app’s billionaire co-founder, who was taken into custody at a Paris airport this weekend.
Durov, 39, was arrested in Le Bourget on Saturday on suspicion of failing to take steps to prevent criminal use of Telegram, according to Agence France-Presse. His original detention was extended by 24 hours late Sunday, a judicial official said.
Telegram issued a statement on its platform and on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Dubai-based company said complies with European lawsincluding the Digital Services Act, and that Durov ‘has nothing to hide’.
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of that platform,” the statement said. “We await a quick resolution of this situation.”
Durov lives in Dubai and is a citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates, according to the Telegram website. He has not previously responded to the question of whether he has renounced his Russian citizenship.
The Russian embassy in Paris said it had “asked the French authorities to explain the reasons and demanded that they guarantee the protection of his rights and grant consular access.” Embassy officials have contacted Durov’s lawyer, according to the statement.
France’s Ofmin, an agency set up to combat violence against minors, has issued an arrest warrant for Durov, AFP reports. Ofmin is the coordinating agency in a preliminary investigation into alleged crimes such as fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promotion of terrorism, AFP said.
Toncoin, a cryptocurrency linked to Telegram, fell as much as 23% following the news that Durov was in custody.
Telegram was created by Durov and his brother Nikolai, a programmer and mathematician. It has around 900 million active users and is one of the most popular messaging apps. The relatively light-hearted approach to content moderation has led to accusations that it is often used for criminal activity and extremist material.
The Durov brothers made their fortune by founding the Russia-based social network VKontakte in 2006. That platform quickly became popular among Russians, making it a target for a billionaire with ties to the Kremlin.
Durov fled the country in 2014 and sold his stake in VKontakte. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he has a net worth of over $9 billion.
In an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in April, Durov discussed the pressure he faced from Russian authorities while running VKontakte and the surveillance of Telegram by law enforcement agencies around the world.
“I’d rather be free, I wouldn’t want to take orders from anyone,” Durov said during the interview.
