France

Telegram founder arrested in France: dictatorship on the march

- 3:21 pm
Pavel Duroc (TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Pavel Duroc (TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Pavel Durov, CEO and founder of 900-million-user encrypted messenger Telegram, was arrested this Saturday at Le Bourget airport. The 39-year-old Franco-Russian billionaire was arrested by French authorities under a search warrant issued by the French Office for Combating Violence Against Minors.

Accompanied by his bodyguard and assistant, Durov was arrested in the terminal in the early evening and taken into police custody, where he spent the night. He is due to appear in court on Sunday, a situation that has already provoked a virulent reaction from Moscow, accusing Paris of refusing to cooperate.

Insufficient moderation, illegal content

Pavel Durov is in the crosshairs of French justice for several offenses concerning the use of his Telegram platform. The messaging service is accused of facilitating criminal activities such as fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying and organized crime. The courts are also accusing the platform of glorifying terrorism, particularly where minors are concerned. Telegram is also accused of failing to cooperate with the authorities, and of a lack of moderation on the platform.

AB BLEL, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsAB BLEL, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
AB BLEL, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
AB BLEL, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

900 million users

Telegram has nearly 900 million active users. It aims to exceed one billion in the coming year. The app is particularly popular with users for its end-to-end encryption, which ensures maximum confidentiality of exchanges. Unlike other platforms, Telegram has always been committed to protecting its users’ data and never divulging it, a stance that has earned it criticism and increased scrutiny from the authorities, in Europe, but also, and perhaps especially, in the United States.
Its discussion groups can bring together up to 200,000 people. Telegram is regularly accused of encouraging the viral dissemination of false information and hateful content. But this growing popularity, along with the tamper-proof nature of the messages exchanged, doesn’t please everyone, especially the security services.

Tamper-proof messaging

Headquartered in Dubai, Telegram refuses to apply the moderation rules imposed by several countries. Despite requests from the European Union to comply with new legislation on online content, Pavel Durov remains adamant. The Franco-Russian billionaire recently explained that he came up with the idea of creating an encrypted messaging service after coming under pressure from the Russian authorities when he was running VK (VKontakte), a social network he founded before leaving Russia in 2014.

France,