Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of messaging app Telegram, was arrested on Saturday evening while leaving his private jet at France’s Le Bourget airport, as initially reported by French television network TF1.
Durov’s arrest sparked widespread discussion and speculation on social media, including on Telegram itself, though news reports have been largely based on unnamed police sources. In a statement, Telegram said it is “awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”
A spokesperson for France’s national anti-fraud office ONAF did not respond to a request for comment. The Russian embassy in France said it had asked for an explanation but had not heard back from French authorities.
According to TF1, Durov faced a warrant in France based on a preliminary police investigation. The French authorities reportedly claim that Telegram’s lack of content moderation and unwillingness to cooperate with law enforcement make Durov an accomplice to the drug trafficking, money laundering, and sharing of child pornography that allegedly occur via the app.
The arrest will likely fuel further debate around the extent to which messaging apps should be held responsible for the messages their users share.
In its statement, Telegram said it “abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act,” with moderation that is “within industry standards and constantly improving.” It also argued that it’s “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”
Forbes estimates Durov’s net worth at $15.5 billion. Although born in Russia, he left the country in 2014 after resisting government pressure to release data about Ukrainian protest leaders from his previous social network Vkontakte. Durov now lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and his plane was reportedly flying in from Azerbaijan.
Durov said last month that Telegram had 950 million active users, with a goal of reaching 1 billion this year. At the same time, the company claims to have around only 30 engineers — a very small team for an app of Telegram’s scale, likely making Durov even more important to the company’s operation.
This post has been updated with statements from Telegram and the Russian embassy in France.