Pavel Durov, the 39-year-old CEO of the social media platform Telegram, has been on the French government's radar for years. He has met with President Emmanuel Macron on multiple occasions, according to Le Monde, and holds a French passport, among others. Macron even allegedly tried to convince him to move Telegram to France, although the company is currently based in Dubai. So why was Durov arrested in Paris on August 24?
Durov was born and raised in Russia, where he launched the social network VKontakte (VK) in 2006. However, in 2014 he was pushed out of the company after he refused to hand over data regarding Ukrainian protesters to the Russian Federal Security Service, as well as shut down channels used by Russian opposition groups. Durov left Russia and turned his attention to Telegram, which he founded with his brother Nikolai in 2013. The platform grew steadily, amassing 50 million monthly active users by December 2014 and around 500 million in January 2021, according to internal data. Durov claimed Telegram had 950 million monthly active users in September 2024. Its popularity increased with Russia's invasion of Ukraine as both sides have used the app widely to share information about the war.
However, as its user base expanded, Western lawmakers started voicing concerns about Telegram's lack of content moderation, warning that it is used by terrorist groups and far-right organizations and that it facilitates criminal activity. They also worried about the spread of disinformation and conspiracy theories, as Telegram allows individual channels to have up to 200,000 users, providing malicious actors with large platforms. Finally, the app does not use end-to-end encryption by default and it is non-existent for group chats, providing lower levels of personal data protection compared to rivals such as WhatsApp. Telegram was also accused of failing to cooperate with governments. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, it "ignored subpoenas and court orders sent by law-enforcement authorities for years."
French authorities issued a warrant for the arrest of Pavel and Nikolai Durov as early as March, according to Politico. While Nikolai's whereabouts are currently unknown, Pavel was arrested when his private plane landed at Le Bourget Airport outside Paris. He was indicted on 12 counts on August 28, including complicity in illegal activities facilitated by Telegram and the refusal to cooperate with authorities on previous investigations. He was released on a €5 million bail but must remain in France. Russia has claimed the arrest was politically motivated, which French President Emmanuel Macron denied. Telegram also insisted it complies with the European Union's legislation, adding that its content moderation is "within industry standards and constantly improving."
Durov reacted to his arrest for the first time on September 5, stating that charging an executive "with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach." He also denied that Telegram is "some sort of anarchic paradise" and claimed it takes down "millions of harmful posts and channels every day." However, he conceded that the platform is experiencing some "growing pains" due to its "abrupt increase in user count" and vowed to implement changes, promising to reveal more details shortly.
