Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested at French airport

The head of Telegram was arrested at an airport in France, the BBC reports.

Pavel Durov, 39, founder and CEO of the popular messaging app, was arrested after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport north of Paris.

The BBC reports that Durov was arrested on a warrant for the lack of moderators on the app. Durov is accused of failing to take the necessary steps to curb criminal use on the platform.

Durov, who was born in Russia, lives in Dubai and has dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates, founded Telegram in 2013. The app was banned in Russia in 2018 after he refused to hand over user data. That ban was lifted in 2021. Telegram has 950 million monthly users and is especially popular in Russia, Ukraine and the states of the former Soviet Union.

X owner Elon Musk responded to Durov's post by hashtagging one post #freepavel and writing in another: “POV: It's the year 2030 in Europe and you're being executed for liking a meme.”