Pavel Durov was arrested outside Paris when he landed in his private jet. The main focus of the investigation was Telegram’s lack of moderators.
Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram and a Russian-French millionaire, was detained on Saturday night at the Bourget airport south of Paris, according to reports. Following his private jet’s landing close to the French capital, he was taken into custody. An arrest warrant had been issued in France for him as part of an initial police inquiry.
The investigation’s primary emphasis, according to Reuters, was Telegram’s lack of moderators. Police felt that this situation allowed illegal conduct to continue on the service.
Social media was soon used by a large number of individuals to criticize Durov’s detention. Some even called for his release.
Freedom of speech and defense of privacy are the main sins of Pavel Durov !#FREEDUROV #Pavel_Durov
— arxa.x (@yavar5505) August 25, 2024
#FREEDUROV
— Crypto Slice ⌘ (@zameenkhata) August 25, 2024
Release Telegram CEO Pavel Durov.
Privacy is not a crime 👍
I stand with Pavel Durov#FREEDUROV#Pavel_Durov #PavelDurov #Telegram #France pic.twitter.com/3DzrQxMylg
— Tadashi Hamada (@TadashiHamada05) August 25, 2024
@s0meone_u_know Pavel Durov is fighting for our right of Freedom of Speech & now it’s time we fight back #france release Durov #FREEDUROV pic.twitter.com/AD2y2TDtWs
— Mr.Crypto | $ION 🧊 | (@MrCrypto_ai) August 25, 2024
The encrypted messaging software Telegram, which has about one billion users, is very popular in Russia, Ukraine, and the former Soviet Union’s constituent nations. According to Reuters, it ranks second among the major social media platforms, after Wechat, Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok.
The news source added that since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has been the main channel for unfiltered, frequently explicit, and erroneous information from both sides about the conflict and the political landscape. Many observers refer to the messaging app as “a virtual battlefield” for the war, as it is heavily used by both the Russian government and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his officials of Ukraine.
One of the only places where Russians may find independent news about the war is Telegram, which allows users to elude government monitoring. This is especially true after the Kremlin increased controls on alternative media following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian foreign ministry said that its embassy in Paris was giving information about Durov’s circumstances and requested Western non-governmental organizations to work for his release.
