Messaging app Telegram has said its chief executive has “nothing to hide” after French authorities detained Pavel Durov at the weekend for alleged failures in content moderation.
In a surprise move that has escalated the global debate over free speech and raised tensions with Moscow, the Russia-born billionaire was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget airport when he arrived in the country on his private jet from Azerbaijan on Saturday evening, according to French news agency AFP.
The Paris prosecutor’s office has confirmed an active investigation into Durov, and French media have reported he is alleged to have failed to moderate adequately criminal activity on the platform.
In a statement on Sunday, Dubai-based Telegram said its moderation was “within industry standards and constantly improving”, adding that it was abiding by EU laws including the Digital Services Act. The legislation, which came into force this year, requires platforms to police harmful content and disinformation more closely, or risk penalties or being restricted in the bloc.
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram said. “We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”
Durov’s detainment marks the most drastic national action against a social media chief to date and threatens to further ignite global debate over whether platforms should prioritise online safety or free speech. Free speech proponents such as Elon Musk have been hitting out at French authorities, with the billionaire owner of rival platform X posting the hashtag “#freepavel” on his platform.
French authorities had been investigating whether Telegram’s moderation failures had helped facilitate illegal activity including terrorism, drug peddling, money laundering, fraud and child exploitation, according to several French television outlets. Some reports suggested there had been a warrant out for Durov’s arrest, but Telegram on Sunday said the entrepreneur “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe”.
Durov has been known as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia” after co-founding the country’s most popular social media network, VKontakte, in his native St Petersburg in 2007. He fled Russia in 2014 after allegedly refusing to comply with Moscow’s demands for access to the data of Ukrainian users protesting against a pro-Russia administration.
Founded in 2013, Telegram has exploded in popularity, nearing 1bn users and becoming one of the key communication tools in conflict zones and humanitarian crises such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Durov has taken a hands-off approach to moderation and cast the app as unassailable by governments. However, some researchers have warned that it has become a hub for illicit activity and extremism as a result.
While Durov now has dual French-Emirati citizenship, his Russian roots prompted some lawmakers in Moscow to call for his release and suggest the arrest was politically motivated, while the Russian embassy in France said it had requested consular access to Durov.
In recent years, Durov has tried to distance himself and the app from Russia, amid claims by critics that the Kremlin might still have links to or leverage over Telegram.
“He thought his biggest problems were in Russia and left . . . he wanted to be a brilliant ‘citizen of the world’, living well without a homeland,” former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, now a prominent rightwing commentator, wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday.
“He miscalculated. To our common enemies, he is still Russian — unpredictable and dangerous, of different blood.”