Who is Telegram founder Pavel Durov? All to know about his arrest in France

Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov was detained astatine the Paris-Le Bourget airdrome connected Saturday, aft arriving by a backstage level from Baku, Azerbaijan.

He is accused of having failed to mean transgression enactment connected the platform.

Here is what we cognize astir Durov, Telegram and the case:

Who is Durov and wherefore was helium detained?

Russian-born Durov, 39, co-founded what became 1 of Russia’s astir fashionable societal media networks, VKontakte, successful his autochthonal St Petersburg, successful 2007. He has been compared with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

In 2013, helium grabbed planetary headlines by publically offering a occupation to whistleblower and erstwhile National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

In an interrogation with US writer Tucker Carlson earlier this year, Durov claimed that helium was nether unit to springiness Russian authorities entree to information from accounts of Ukrainian pro-democracy activists successful 2014 — and that helium refused to bash so.

As the Russian authorities tightened its grip connected the net and President Vladimir Putin’s allies started to instrumentality power of VKontakte, Durov sold his involvement successful the level successful 2014 and fled the country.

He past shifted his absorption to Telegram, an app helium co-founded with his member Nikolai erstwhile helium was 28.

Durov has been surviving successful Dubai and is simply a national of the United Arab Emirates and France, according to Telegram. It is unclear whether helium has fixed up his Russian citizenship.

Business mag Forbes estimates his wealthiness astatine $15.5bn, arsenic of Sunday morning.

Co-founder and CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov delivers a keynote code during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) successful Barcelona [File: Albert Gea/Reuters]

Durov has maintained a hands-off stance connected moderation, positioning the app arsenic backstage and censorship. Nonetheless, immoderate experts person cautioned that this attack has led to Telegram becoming a hotspot for illicit enactment and extremism.

According to a study by the AFP quality agency, helium was detained “over offences alleged to person been conducted connected Telegram, ranging from fraud, to cause trafficking, cyberbullying and organised crime, including promoting coercion and fraud.”

While the European Union and the United States person fined different societal media platforms for violations their rules and regulations, and their lawmakers person hauled up leaders of integer firms for nationalist hearings, they are not known to person arrested major tech leaders.

In 2016, a elder Facebook enforcement was arrested successful Brazil aft the institution didn’t springiness accusation from WhatsApp related to a cause trafficking investigation. The genitor institution of Facebook, which was renamed Meta successful 2021, owns WhatsApp.

What is Telegram?

Launched successful August 2013, Telegram is simply a cloud-based messaging app. The level allows users to nonstop messages, photos and ample files arsenic good arsenic make groups for “up to 200,000 radical oregon channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences”.

These features, coupled with the app’s minimal moderation, made it an perfect venue for individuals and groups banned from different platforms specified arsenic Twitter and Facebook.

Since its creation, the level has surged successful popularity; it present has astir 1 cardinal progressive users and has emerged arsenic an important connection instrumentality successful struggle zones, including the Russia-Ukraine war.

The Telegram improvement squad is presently based successful Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

⚖️ Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is wrong manufacture standards and perpetually improving.

✈️ Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov has thing to fell and travels often successful Europe.

😵‍💫 It is absurd to assertion that a level oregon its owner…

— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) August 25, 2024

According to a report by Statista, Telegram is the 3rd astir downloaded messenger app globally pursuing WhatsApp and Snapchat.

In 2023, India, Russia, and the US were the app’s apical markets based connected download figures. In 2021, it was the astir downloaded app worldwide with 1 cardinal downloads.

Telegram says that Durov “supports Telegram financially and ideologically”. The level specifically stays distant from “politically motivated censorship”, however, it specifies that it does artifact “terrorist bots and channels”.

The level makes wealth done gross from advertizing and a premium subscription programme launched 2 years ago.

“We are hoping to go profitable adjacent year, if not this year,” Durov told the Financial Times successful March.

“The main crushed wherefore we started to monetise is due to the fact that we wanted to stay independent,” helium said. “Generally speaking, we spot worth successful [an IPO] arsenic a means to democratise entree to Telegram’s value.”

The Telegram messaging app is seen connected an iPhone surface successful Warsaw, Poland, connected August 25, 2024 [Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

How has Russia responded to Durov’s arrest?

The narration betwixt Russia and Durov has been fraught with tension. After Durov near the country, Russia began blocking Telegram successful 2018 erstwhile the app refused to supply authorities information services with entree to users’ encrypted messages. The prohibition was lifted successful 2020, though the app — similar different online platforms successful Russia — faces censorship and authorities scrutiny.

However, aft the entrepreneur’s arrest, Russia was speedy to respond, and its embassy successful France demanded consular entree to Durov and demanded that helium person entree to his rights.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s imperishable typical to the United Nations successful Vienna, accused France of acting arsenic a “totalitarian” nine — portion besides calling Durov “naive” for believing successful Western claims to support the state of speech.

“Some naive persons inactive don’t recognize that if they play much oregon little disposable relation successful planetary accusation abstraction it is not harmless for them to sojourn countries which determination towards overmuch much totalitarian societies,” Ulyanov wrote connected X.

According to Ben Aris, Russia watcher and exertion of the bureau bne IntelliNews, Durov was flying from Azerbaijan wherever Putin has been for the past fewer days.

“The speech was that helium was determination wanting to lobby Putin successful bid to forestall having Telegram blocked oregon turned disconnected wrong Russia,” Aris told Al Jazeera.

Protesters clasp a representation of messaging app Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov designed arsenic an icon, protesting against the blocking of the app successful Russia, during a May Day rally successful St Petersburg, Russia, connected May 1, 2018 [Dmitri Lovetsky/AP]

Separately, erstwhile Russian President Dmitry Medvedev connected Sunday wrote connected his Telegram channel: “He thought his biggest problems were successful Russia and near … helium wanted to beryllium a superb ‘citizen of the world’, surviving good without a homeland.”

“He miscalculated. To our communal enemies, helium is inactive Russian – unpredictable and dangerous, of antithetic blood.”

What astir different reactions to Durov’s arrest?

Elon Musk, the proprietor of X, posted #FreePavel connected the platform.

“It’s 2030 successful Europe and you are being executed for liking a meme,” helium added.

POV: It’s 2030 successful Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme https://t.co/OkZ6YS3u2P

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2024

“Durov’s arrest, speech from being incredibly unjust based connected the existent charges (it’s wide that Durov isn’t progressive successful coercion oregon arms trafficking), is besides a important stroke to state of speech,” Georgy Alburov, a Russian governmental activistic with the precocious absorption person Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said connected X.

“Freedom for Pavel Durov,” helium added.

Edward Snowden called the apprehension “an battle connected the basal quality rights of code and association”.

The apprehension of @Durov is an battle connected the basal quality rights of code and association. I americium amazed and profoundly saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages arsenic a means for gaining entree to backstage communications. It lowers not lone France, but the world.

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 25, 2024

Former Fox News big Tucker Carlson besides deed retired astatine the French government.

Pavel Durov near Russia erstwhile the authorities tried to power his societal media company, Telegram. But successful the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the nationalist to workout escaped speech. It was a occidental country, a Biden medication state and enthusiastic NATO member,… https://t.co/F83E9GbNHC

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 24, 2024

Former US statesmanlike campaigner Robert F Kennedy Jr, who dropped retired of the contention past week to endorse Donald Trump for the November election, besides backed Durov successful a station connected X.

France conscionable arrested Pavel Durov, laminitis & CEO of the encrypted, uncensored Telegram platform. The request to support escaped code has ne'er been much urgent.

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 25, 2024