Telegram CEO Pavel Durov released from prison ahead of court date in FranceMyClallamCounty.com

(PARIS) — Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire CEO of social media messaging app Telegram, was released from custody in France on Wednesday after being arrested in connection with an “ongoing judicial investigation,” Paris prosecutors told ABC News.

Durov will be brought to court “in order to question him and possibly charge him,” the Paris public prosecutor's office said.

The office did not provide any information on when Durov would be brought to trial.

Durov, 39, was arrested on August 24 shortly after landing on a private jet at Le Bourget airport outside Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed his arrest two days later.

Durov is accused of being passive in cyber and financial crimes on the Telegram platform and faces 12 charges, according to the Paris prosecutor's office.

The charges relate to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, prosecutors announced on Monday.

Macron stressed in his statement that Durov's arrest had “no political reason”. “France is more committed than anything else to freedom of expression and communication, innovation and entrepreneurship. And it will remain so.”

What is Telegram?

Telegram is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world with about 800 million active users and a large user base in Russia and Ukraine.

Launched in 2013, Telegram was designed to address growing concerns about digital privacy and censorship. Unlike many messaging apps of the time, Telegram was designed with an emphasis on security, offering end-to-end encryption and features that put user privacy first.

The app's popularity skyrocketed and made Durov one of the richest people in the world. According to Forbes, his net worth is estimated at about $15.5 billion.

The app differentiated itself from competitors such as Facebook Messenger, WeChat and WhatsApp through its commitment to free speech and resistance to government censorship.

The app has positioned itself as a haven for activists and journalists, with features including self-destructing messages, secret chats, and robust channel functionality.

In addition, Telegram provides a platform for larger messaging groups, allowing 200,000 users to be added to a chat.

Due to its large group size, Telegram has been criticized for hosting far-right and extremist groups. Most recently, the UK government condemned Telegram for its role in organizing riots by extremist groups across the country in July.

Who is Pavel Durov?

Durov was born in 1984 in Leningrad, Russia (now Saint Petersburg). He took his first steps as an entrepreneur in the technology sector in 2006 with the founding of the Russian social network VKontakte (VK).

Compared to Facebook, VK quickly gained popularity among Russian-speaking users as it provides a platform for social interaction, content sharing and networking.

However, the platform's success attracted the attention of the Russian government, and Durov faced increasing pressure to comply with government requests for user data.

In 2014, Durov was forced to leave VK after refusing to comply with demands to close opposition communities on the platform.

He reportedly refused to block the page of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on the platform.

After leaving his job at VK, Durov left Russia and moved to Dubai, where he heads Telegram, founded the previous year in 2013.

Durov frequently travels to Europe from the United Arab Emirates and received French citizenship in 2021.

Reaction to Durov’s arrest

Following Durov's arrest over the weekend, Elon Musk posted #FreePavel on X and shared a clip of an earlier interview the Telegram founder gave with Tucker Carlson.

US whistleblower Edward Snowden described Durov's arrest in a post on X as “an attack on the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and association”.

“I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has gone so far as to take hostages to gain access to private communications. This is humiliating not only France but the entire world,” Snowden wrote.

Hugo Leenhardt and Ellie Kaufman of ABC News contributed to this report.

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