Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov. File | Photo credit: AP
France alleged on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) Pavel Durov, founder and head of TelegramHe was banned from leaving the country for violations related to the messaging app, while the billionaire was freed after four days of arrest.
Following a hearing before investigating magistrates in Paris, Mr Durov, 39, was charged with multiple counts of failing to curb extremist and illegal content on the popular messaging app.
Russian-born Durov was arrested late Saturday at Le Bourget airport outside Paris and questioned by investigators in the following days.
He was granted conditional release on a bail of 5 million euros, with the conditions including that he must report to a police station twice a week and remain in France, Paris prosecutor Laure Becquet said in a statement.
The charges relate to alleged offences involving an organised group, including “complicity in the administration of an online platform to enable illicit transactions”.
Mr Durov has also been charged with “dissemination in an organised group of images of minors in child pornography”, as well as drug trafficking, fraud and money laundering, after refusing to share documents sought by authorities.
His lawyer, David-Olivier Kaminsky, said it was “absurd” to suggest Mr Durov could be implicated in any crimes committed on the app, adding: “Telegram complies in all respects with European rules relating to digital technology”.
In addition, Mr. Durov is also being investigated on suspicion of “serious violence” towards one of his children while he and his former partner, the boy’s mother, were in Paris, a source said. She also filed another complaint against Mr. Durov in Switzerland last year.
‘Not political’
The tech giant founded Telegram when he was in the process of leaving his native country Russia a decade ago. Its growth has been rapid, with the app now boasting over 900 million users.
Mr. Durov is a mysterious figure who rarely speaks in public. He is a citizen of Russia, France and the United Arab Emirates, where Telegram is based.
Forbes The magazine estimates his current wealth at $15.5 billion, though he proudly preaches the virtues of an ascetic life that includes taking ice baths and not drinking alcohol or coffee.
Many questions have been raised about the timing and circumstances of Mr. Durov’s detention, with supporters seeing him as a champion of freedom of expression while opponents see him as a threat who deliberately allowed Telegram to spiral out of control.
Le Monde The newspaper reported on Wednesday that Mr Durov had met President Emmanuel Macron on several occasions before receiving French nationality in 2021 through a special procedure reserved for people who have made a special contribution to France.
The Wall Street Journal said that during a lunch in 2018, Macron – who has been an avid user of Telegram in the past – with his team suggested it should be headquartered in Paris, but Mr Durov refused.
According to a source close to the matter, who confirmed a story first published on the Politico news site, Mr Pavel Durov and his elder brother Nikolai, a less well-known figure seen as the mathematical brain behind Telegram, have both been wanted by France since March this year.
In a post on X he addressed “false information” surrounding the case, saying that ‘s arrest was “in no way a political decision” and that it was “up to the judges to decide”.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the allegations were very serious and therefore “no less serious evidence is needed.”
Among those expressing support is fellow tech tycoon and X chief executive Elon Musk, who posted comments under the hashtag #FreePavel.
‘Almost complete absence’
Mr. Durov left Russia a decade ago while founding Telegram amid a dispute over the ownership of his first project, the Russian social network VKontakte.
But his departure from Russia was reportedly not an abrupt deportation: According to the Vyazhne Istorii news site, citing leaked border data, he visited the country more than 50 times between 2015 and 2021.
Telegram has pitched itself as a “neutral” alternative to US-owned platforms that have been criticised for commercially exploiting users’ personal data.
It has also played an important role since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and has been actively used by politicians and commentators on both sides of the war.
The Paris prosecutor said French judicial authorities were made aware of an “almost complete absence of response” from Telegram to authorities’ requests and first opened the investigation in February 2024.