Aisha TukurPavel Durov, the co-founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested in Paris on Saturday after landing on his private jet. French authorities detained the Russian-born tech billionaire at Le Bourget airport as part of an ongoing investigation into his encrypted messaging platform’s alleged involvement in global criminal activities. The arrest has prompted strong reactions from free speech advocates, who see it as a significant threat to online freedom.
According to French news outlet TF1 Info, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrestedat a Paris airport Saturday evening following his arrival from Azerbaijan. French law enforcement, who had issued a search warrant in connection with an investigation into Telegram’s alleged involvement in serious global crimes, detained the billionaire at Le Bourget airport around 8 p.m.
Durov, who co-founded the encrypted messaging app Telegram in 2013 with his brother Nikolai, is accused by French authorities of allowing the platform to be used for various criminal activities, including drug trafficking, pedophilia, and fraud. Law enforcement officials believe that Telegram’s strong encryption and privacy tools have made it a haven for criminals to communicate and conduct illegal activities without oversight. The search warrant for Durov’s arrest was only valid within French jurisdiction, which made his arrival in Paris a critical moment for the authorities.
A source close to the investigation commented on the arrest, noting the unusual circumstances of Durov’s arrival in France. “He made a blunder this evening. We don’t know why… Was this flight just a stopover? In any case, he’s in custody,” the source told TF1 Info.
Durov, who now holds citizenship in both France and the United Arab Emirates, initially gained fame as the founder of VKontakte (VK), Russia’s largest social networking site. However, he fled Russia in 2014 after resisting demands from the Russian government to hand over user data and silence anti-government communities on the platform. In a previous interview, Durov explained that his decision to leave Russia was driven by a desire for freedom. “For me, everything in my life was about becoming free, and to an extent, my mission in life was to allow other people to also become free,” he told Tucker Carlson in April.
Since its inception, Telegram has been both praised and criticized for its emphasis on user privacy. While the platform has been instrumental in providing a communication tool for people worldwide, it has also attracted criticism from various governments for allegedly facilitating criminal activities. In 2018, Russia banned Telegram after the company refused to provide encryption keys to the government, a ban that was lifted two years later.
Durov is expected to appear before a judge on Sunday, where he will face charges related to terrorism, narcotics trafficking, complicity in fraud, money laundering, and child pornography. An investigator familiar with the case told TF1 Info, “Pavel Durov will end up in pretrial detention, that’s for sure.” The source added that Durov’s platform has allowed countless crimes to be committed without any significant efforts to moderate or cooperate with law enforcement.
The arrest has triggered immediate backlash from free speech advocates. Tucker Carlson highlighted the irony that Durov, who fled Russia to escape government control, was ultimately detained by a Western country. “Pavel Durov sits in a French jail tonight, a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies,” Carlson stated on X.
Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of Rumble, echoed these concerns, revealing that he had just left Europe after learning of Durov’s arrest. “Rumble will not stand for this behavior and will use every legal means available to fight for freedom of expression,”
