Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, the ‘Mark Zuckerberg of Russia,’ detained at airport in France
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov
Paris (CNN) — French authorities on Saturday detained Pavel Durov, the French-Russian billionaire who founded the messaging app Telegram, at an airport outside Paris, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.
Officers from France’s anti-fraud office, attached to French customs, took him into custody after he arrived at Bourget Airport on a private jet from Azerbaijan, BFMTV reported.
According to BFMTV, the Telegram founder — often referred to as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia” — had not regularly traveled to France and Europe since the arrest warrant was issued.
Durov, 39, was wanted under a French arrest warrant due to the lack of moderation on Telegram which led to it being used for money laundering, drug trafficking and sharing pedophilic content, according to BFMTV.
European Union regulators have recently stepped up efforts to crack down on online platforms to combat disinformation and illegal content.
The Russian Embassy in France on Sunday confirmed Durov’s detention and said it is in contact with Durov’s attorney.
“Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving,” Telegram said Sunday in a release on its public board.
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram added in the release.
The French prosecutor’s office has not responded to CNN’s request for comment.
Durov and his brother, Nikolai Durov, launched Telegram in 2013. The app says it has 900 million active users.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Pavel Durov has a net worth of $9.15 billion.
He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with requests from the Russian government to turn over data on Ukrainian Vkontakte users and now lives in Dubai. Durov is a dual citizen of the United Arab Emirates and France.
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This report has been updated with additional information.
