Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested Saturday as he departed his private jet at Le Bourget airport outside Paris, multiple outlets reported.
Reuters reported, citing French media sources, that the elusive billionaire entrepreneur was arrested as part of a preliminary investigation into criminal activity on the instant messaging app. Per CBS News, the investigation is focused on posts on the platform that may include offenses such as fraud, drug trafficking, and organized crime, with Telegram accused of failing to moderate such content adequately.
CBS News reported he is expected to appear in court on Sunday.
Durov’s arrest comes amid increasing international pressure on social media platforms to moderate content on their sites and apps. The European Union, of which France is a key member, recently implemented the Digital Services Act, which requires large tech companies to strictly moderate illegal content on their platforms or face steep fines. Telegram has faced intense scrutiny from the EU this year over its moderation practices since the platform has grown to 41 million EU users — just shy of the 45 million size that would require the platform to follow DSA rules.
Telegram is a particularly influential social media platform in Ukraine and Russia and has become a primary source of information about the war between the two countries. The site has come under repeated fire for hosting graphic and misleading content about the Russia-Ukraine war and the war between Israel and Hamas. However, Telegram rarely shuts down channels without prompting from law enforcement or regulatory agencies.
Durov, born in Russia, left the country in 2014 after he refused to comply with Kremlin orders to shut down the accounts of opposition groups on a separate social media platform he founded, VKontakte, per Reuters. That year, Durov sold his stake in VKontakte.
“I would rather be free than to take orders from anyone,” Durov told Tucker Carlson in April about his decision to leave Russia.
Representatives for Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
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