Lack of moderation lands Telegram CEO in prison

Pavel Durov, the CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested by French authorities on Saturday, TF1 INFO.

Officers from several French authorities were involved in the arrest, including the Air Transport Gendarmerie (GTA), the Cyberspace Gendarmerie Command (COMCyberGEND), the National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF) and the Border Police (PAF).

Duruv was caught after arriving at Le Bourget airport near Paris on his private jet from Azerbaijan.

Durov, 39, is originally from Russia and co-developed Telegram with his brother Nikolai in 2013. It is one of the most downloaded apps in the world and has 900 million users. It is not as strictly moderated as other popular communication apps. This casual approach is reportedly the reason why Durov was arrested, as the app is considered a popular hangout for criminals and troublemakers.

He is accused of not having taken the necessary security precautions to prevent criminal use of his app and thus allowing it to be used for crimes such as money laundering and drug trafficking.

Telegram is not only accused of not being properly moderated, but also of not cooperating with law enforcement and offering tools such as cryptocurrencies that make it easier for drug traffickers and scammers to operate.

Durov is scheduled to appear in court on Sunday, where he is expected to face multiple charges.

Durov is originally from Russia, lives in Dubai and holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France.

The arrest probably didn't surprise Durov, as he knew the authorities had a warrant for his arrest. After the warrant was issued, he restricted his travel to France and Europe. However, it's also possible that it was just a stopover that turned out to be a mistake.