Prosecutors: Telegram founder's arrest part of cybercrime investigation | France

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire co-founder of messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France in connection with an investigation into criminal activity on the platform and a lack of cooperation with law enforcement, prosecutors said on Monday.

Durov, a French citizen, was arrested on Saturday evening at Le Bourget airport outside Paris after arriving from Azerbaijan on his private jet. His surprise arrest has sparked a debate about freedom of expression around the world and provoked an outcry in Moscow.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the investigation concerned crimes related to illegal transactions, child sexual abuse, fraud and refusal to provide information to authorities.

Previously, French President Emmanuel Macron had confirmed for the first time that Durov had been arrested as part of a judicial investigation into Telegram.

“In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are maintained both on social media and in real life within a legal framework to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights,” Macron wrote on X, adding that the arrest was “in no way a political decision.” “It is the task of the judiciary to enforce the law in complete independence,” he said.

A senior official at Ofmin, a French agency set up last year to prevent violence against children, said Durov's arrest was linked to Telegram's failure to effectively combat crime on the app, including the distribution of child sexual abuse material.

“At the heart of this case is the lack of moderation and cooperation of the platform (which has nearly 1 billion users), particularly in the fight against crimes against children,” wrote Jean-Michel Bernigaud, Secretary General of Ofmin, on LinkedIn.

Beccuau said Durov was arrested as part of an investigation “against X” – by which he means one or more unknown persons – that was launched on July 8 following a preliminary investigation by officials of the National Jurisdiction for Combating Organized Crime (Junalco).

Specialized cybercrime and fraud investigators are currently investigating twelve alleged offenses related to organized crime, including aiding and abetting the possession and distribution of images of children of a “paedopornographic nature,” drug offenses, and fraud. It is unclear whether and which of the alleged offenses Durov will be charged with.

On Sunday, the investigating judge extended Durov's pre-trial detention from 24 to up to 96 hours.

In a statement on Sunday evening, Telegram said Durov had “nothing to hide”. It said: “Telegram complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act – its moderation is in line with industry standards and is constantly improving. It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform.”

Durov, a self-proclaimed libertarian often referred to as “Russia's Mark Zuckerberg,” left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with Kremlin demands to close opposition groups on the VK social network, which he founded at age 22.

After a dispute with its pro-Kremlin owners, he was forced to sell VK and turned his attention to Telegram, the app he founded with his brother Nikolai in 2013. Durov, who lives in Dubai, received his French passport in 2021 under a special procedure for high-profile foreigners that exempts them from standard legal requirements, including at least five years of residence in the country.

Telegram has long been used by democracy activists in countries such as Belarus, Hong Kong and Iran. In Russia, the Kremlin was forced to lift a ban on the widely used app after years of unsuccessful attempts to restrict it.

But the app has also become a haven for extremists and conspiracy theorists. The app was also widely used by far-right agitators planning anti-immigration demonstrations in England and Northern Ireland after three children were stabbed to death at a dance class in Southport last month.

Telegram denies allegations that its platform enables illegal activities such as terrorism, fraud and child exploitation.

Although there had been previous confrontations between Durov and the Kremlin, his arrest sparked outrage in Moscow and was portrayed by Russian officials as an example of Western hypocrisy regarding freedom of expression.

“The arrest of Pavel Durov has confirmed that there is no (pro-Western) freedom of speech in Europe or even in the world,” said Sergei Mironov, a veteran Russian ultra-nationalist politician and ally of Vladimir Putin.

Maria Butina, a Russian politician who spent 15 months in a US prison for working as an unregistered Russian agent, said Durov was “a political prisoner – a victim of a witch hunt by the West.”

The Russian embassy in France said it had requested consular access to Durov, but his representatives reportedly did not respond, Russian state media said.

Durov's arrest has reignited debates about the responsibility social media companies have for the content they share on their platforms, and whether they should prioritize security and cooperation with authorities over protecting freedom of expression. Elon Musk, a self-proclaimed “champion of absolute freedom of expression,” condemned Durov's arrest, claiming that freedom of expression in Europe is under threat.