Pavel Durov, Russian-born billionaire founder and owner of the Telegram messaging app, has been arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris. According to the French police, Durov was arrested as part of an ongoing police investigation into criminal activity taking on the platform.
The arrest has prompted widespread criticism, especially from the Russian government, which stated that Durov’s rights should be respected. Telegram also issued an unnamed statement claiming that Durov has “nothing to hide and frequently travels in Europe” and that “it is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the abuse of that platform.”
Reuters reports that France has not officially confirmed the arrest, but two French police sources and one Russian source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that Durov was arrested shortly after arriving at Le Bourget airport on a private jet from Azerbaijan.
Although not end-to-end encrypted by default, Telegram’s largely unmoderated approach has attracted interest from cybercriminals, who often use the app as a command and control centre for their malicious bots and other activities. Many also see the app as a private and censorship-free alternative to existing, more popular social media platforms. However, the lack of moderation seems to have allowed a range of cybercrime on the platform. A lack of police cooperation has also been cited as the reason behind the arrest.
In any case, Durov’s arrest only seems to be the start of Telegram’s woes. The Indian government has also launched an investigation into the app over allegations of extortion and gambling, as reported by Moneycontrol. Depending on the investigation’s results, the app could be banned. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) are conducting the probe.
In the News: Unprotected database leaks nearly 32 million documents, invoices, contracts, and agreements
