Telegram CEO detained at French airport

The 39-year-old was arrested following the landing of his private aircraft in Le Bourget Airport in northern Paris.

By Thomas Mackintosh

Aug 25, 2024 07:28 AM

Mr Durov was born in Russia and lives in Dubai. He holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France.

Telegram is a popular medium particularly in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet Union states.

The application was shut down in Russia in 2018following an earlier decision by the Russian president Durov to release information about users. However, the ban was lifted in 2021.

Telegram is considered to be one of the top social networks in the same way as Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.

Mr. Durov established Telegram in 2013, and quit Russia in 2014 following his refusal to comply with the government’s demands to close down groups of the opposition via the VKontakte social networking platform which he later sold.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram asking if Western human rights organizations are silent about Durov’s detention, as they condemned Russia’s decision “create obstacles” to the operation of Telegram in Russia in the year 2018.

A number of Russian officials have criticized the arrest of the businessman.

X founder Elon Musk who has been the subject of a lot of criticism for his moderation and the content posted by his social media platform, frequently posted about the issue. He tweeted a post with the hashtag #freepavel and wrote on another post: “POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme.”