World
Who is Telegram CEO Pavel Durov? What to know about his arrest in France
Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov was detained at the Paris-Le Bourget airport on Saturday, after arriving by a private plane from Baku, Azerbaijan.
He is accused of having failed to moderate criminal activity on the platform.
Here is what we know about Durov, Telegram and the case:
Who is Durov and why was he detained?
Russian-born Durov, 39, co-founded what became one of Russia’s most popular social media networks, VKontakte, in his native St Petersburg, in 2007. He has been compared with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.
In 2013, he grabbed global headlines by publicly offering a job to whistleblower and former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
In an interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson earlier this year, Durov claimed that he was under pressure to give Russian authorities access to data from accounts of Ukrainian pro-democracy activists in 2014 — and that he refused to do so.
As the Russian government tightened its grip on the internet and President Vladimir Putin’s allies started to take control of VKontakte, Durov sold his stake in the platform in 2014 and fled the country.
He then shifted his focus to Telegram, an app he co-founded with his brother Nikolai when he was 28.
Durov has been living in Dubai and is a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and France, according to Telegram. It is unclear whether he has given up his Russian citizenship.
Business magazine Forbes estimates his wealth at $15.5bn, as of Sunday morning.
Durov has maintained a hands-off stance on moderation, positioning the app as private and censorship. Nonetheless, some experts have cautioned that this approach has led to Telegram becoming a hotspot for illicit activity and extremism.
According to a report by the AFP news agency, he was detained “over offences alleged to have been conducted on Telegram, ranging from fraud, to drug trafficking, cyberbullying and organised crime, including promoting terrorism and fraud.”
While the European Union and the United States have fined other social media platforms for violations their rules and regulations, and their lawmakers have hauled up leaders of digital firms for public hearings, they are not known to have arrested major tech leaders.
In 2016, a senior Facebook executive was arrested in Brazil after the company didn’t give information from WhatsApp related to a drug trafficking investigation. The parent company of Facebook, which was renamed Meta in 2021, owns WhatsApp.
What is Telegram?
Launched in August 2013, Telegram is a cloud-based messaging app. The platform allows users to send messages, photos and large files as well as create groups for “up to 200,000 people or channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences”.
These features, coupled with the app’s minimal moderation, made it an ideal venue for individuals and groups banned from other platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
Since its creation, the platform has surged in popularity; it now has nearly one billion active users and has emerged as an important communication tool in conflict zones, including the Russia-Ukraine war.
The Telegram development team is currently based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
⚖️ Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving.
✈️ Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.
😵💫 It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner…
— Telegram Messenger (@telegram) August 25, 2024
According to a report by Statista, Telegram is the third most downloaded messenger app globally following WhatsApp and Snapchat.
In 2023, India, Russia, and the US were the app’s top markets based on download figures. In 2021, it was the most downloaded app worldwide with one billion downloads.
Telegram says that Durov “supports Telegram financially and ideologically”. The platform specifically stays away from “politically motivated censorship”, however, it specifies that it does block “terrorist bots and channels”.
The platform makes money through revenue from advertising and a premium subscription programme launched two years ago.
“We are hoping to become profitable next year, if not this year,” Durov told the Financial Times in March.
“The main reason why we started to monetise is because we wanted to remain independent,” he said. “Generally speaking, we see value in [an IPO] as a means to democratise access to Telegram’s value.”
How has Russia responded to Durov’s arrest?
The relationship between Russia and Durov has been fraught with tension. After Durov left the country, Russia began blocking Telegram in 2018 when the app refused to provide state security services with access to users’ encrypted messages. The ban was lifted in 2020, though the app — like other online platforms in Russia — faces censorship and government scrutiny.
However, after the entrepreneur’s arrest, Russia was quick to respond, and its embassy in France demanded consular access to Durov and demanded that he have access to his rights.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Vienna, accused France of acting as a “totalitarian” society — while also calling Durov “naive” for believing in Western claims to defend the freedom of speech.
“Some naive persons still don’t understand that if they play more or less visible role in international information space it is not safe for them to visit countries which move towards much more totalitarian societies,” Ulyanov wrote on X.
According to Ben Aris, Russia watcher and editor of the agency bne IntelliNews, Durov was flying from Azerbaijan where Putin has been for the last few days.
“The talk was that he was there wanting to lobby Putin in order to prevent having Telegram blocked or turned off inside Russia,” Aris told Al Jazeera.
Separately, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Sunday wrote on his Telegram channel: “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.”
“He miscalculated. To our common enemies, he is still Russian – unpredictable and dangerous, of different blood.”
What about other reactions to Durov’s arrest?
Elon Musk, the owner of X, posted #FreePavel on the platform.
“It’s 2030 in Europe and you are being executed for liking a meme,” he added.
POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme https://t.co/OkZ6YS3u2P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 24, 2024
“Durov’s arrest, aside from being incredibly unjust based on the current charges (it’s clear that Durov isn’t involved in terrorism or arms trafficking), is also a significant blow to freedom of speech,” Georgy Alburov, a Russian political activist with the late opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, said on X.
“Freedom for Pavel Durov,” he added.
Edward Snowden called the arrest “an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association”.
The arrest of @Durov is an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association. I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 25, 2024
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson also hit out at the French government.
Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company, Telegram. But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech. It was a western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic NATO member,… https://t.co/F83E9GbNHC
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 24, 2024
Former US presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, who dropped out of the race last week to endorse Donald Trump for the November election, also backed Durov in a post on X.
France just arrested Pavel Durov, founder & CEO of the encrypted, uncensored Telegram platform. The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 25, 2024
Jinant Film & TV’s unstoppable family drama “Dear You” comfortably dominated the China box office during the June 5–7 weekend, securing RMB115.3 million ($17 million), according to data from Artisan Gateway.
Directed by Lan Hongchun and starring Li Sitong and Wang Yantong, the low-budget cultural juggernaut has reached a cumulative total of $238.5 million. The story details Grandma Ye Shurou from Chaoshan, whose quiet twilight years are broken when her debt-ridden grandson journeys to Thailand to track down his rumored billionaire grandfather. The investigation unravels a hidden love affair spanning 50 years, showing that the person Grandma had been writing to via the traditional “Qiaopi” mailing method was a complete stranger.
Zhonghe Qiancheng’s crime thriller “Vanishing Point” held firm in the runner-up position, pulling in $2.5 million to stretch its cumulative bank to $75.6 million. Directed by Cheng Wei-hao and starring Zheng Kai and Liu Haocun, the film is adapted from Bei Baokang’s novel “Sea Anemone.” The narrative traces the dark, interlocking secrets exposed within an old apartment block after a young boy vanishes on the winter solstice.
Disney’s “Star Wars” spinoff “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was in third place, adding $1.4 million for a cumulative total of $12.1 million. Debuting in fourth place, Amazon MGM Studios’ fantasy action vehicle “Masters of the Universe” picked up $1.2 million in its opening framework.
Rounding out the top five, StudioCanal’s tense World War II historical drama “Pressure” opened with $1.1 million over its two-day weekend frame, bringing its total to $1.2 million including early previews.
Mainland China’s overall weekend grosses reached $27.8 million, while the 2026 year-to-date revenue stands at $2.36 billion, down 42.3% from the same period in 2025.
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Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes on sites it described as Hezbollah command centers in Beirut’s southern suburbs Sunday, hours after Israeli officials said Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah did not immediately claim responsibility.
The escalation came days after the U.S., Israel and Lebanon announced a renewed conditional ceasefire framework requiring Hezbollah to halt fire and withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon. It also followed the release of IDF footage that Israel said showed troops dismantling a Hezbollah explosives facility, where an outside expert said components appeared consistent with anti-personnel shrapnel devices designed to wound or kill people on foot.
The strikes mark a major cross-border escalation days after the U.S., Israel and Lebanon announced a renewed conditional ceasefire framework requiring Hezbollah to halt fire and withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the military action was direct retaliation for the group’s violation earlier in the day.
HEZBOLLAH FIRES BARRAGE OF ROCKETS INTO ISRAEL AFTER IDF TARGETS HEZBOLLAH COMMAND CENTERS IN BEIRUT
An explosion erupts from a building following an Israeli strike in central Beirut, Lebanon, on March 18, 2026. (Hussein Malla/AP Photo)
Concurrently, footage released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) showed troops locating and dismantling a hidden, booby-trapped explosives warehouse.
The multipurpose assembly hub appeared to contain materials that could be used in makeshift shrapnel and propane tanks to create a distributed, lethal network.
Nick Reese, an adjunct professor at NYU’s Center for Global Affairs and a former U.S. national security adviser, told Fox News Digital that the captured weapons cache suggests a deliberate emphasis on personnel casualties, which could be military or civilian targets.
“Given the current situation, they probably targeted more military personnel. Shrapnel bombs are intended to hurt and kill people on foot,” Reese said.
“The video cuts between the IDF entering the building and showing the contents. It’s at this moment that they probably cleared any booby traps,” Reese added. “It would be standard practice to look for and disable any booby traps in a facility like this before going inside and before filming anything.”
“It’s possible the booby traps could be using shrapnel methods, but I can’t see evidence of that in the video. It shows what appears to be a shrapnel bomb, but it is not hidden so likely not a booby trap unless the IDF disarmed it off camera,” he said.
HEZBOLLAH ‘HUMAN SHIELD’ STRATEGY BEHIND LEBANON AMBUSH, BOMB DETONATION – MACRON DRAWN IN
Hezbollah worked to build facilities below private residential buildings and houses. (Benoît Durand / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
Among the items found in the raid was a container filled with nails and other sharp objects, which Reese noted are specific indicators of anti-personnel targeting.
“This video shows what appears to be a container with nails or other sharp implements in it,” Reese noted. “This is likely for creating shrapnel bombs intended to kill, wound, and maim targets.”
“Such devices are both effective and cause significant fear among the population, which was likely the intent,” Reese continued. “The method is not particularly sophisticated but shows that they were targeting humans, not simply hardware or infrastructure.”
“Making shrapnel bombs also tends to be cheap, easily concealed, and effective, especially against personnel. These types of bombs would likely have been in significant use.”
“The video shows a variety of materials that could have been used to create bombs, from makeshift shrapnel to what appears to be a propane tank,” Reese explained.
“These components would be used for very different purposes, so the location seems to have been a central general-purpose explosives-making facility.”
“Propane tanks would be used for larger targets like tanks or buildings, while shrapnel would be used against infantry or in public places,” Reese said.
US, ISRAEL ANNOUNCE TARGETED KILLINGS OF TERROR LEADERS IN SYRIA AND LEBANON
Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs following reported strikes amid escalating conflict involving Hezbollah and Israel, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, on March 6, 2026. (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
The dismantling of the factory follows a high-profile decapitation strike against the leadership running these hidden networks.
The IDF announced Friday that an airstrike in Lebanon killed Hezbollah’s chief explosives engineer, Abed Harb, the commander of Hezbollah’s engineering unit, after he “attempted to harm” Israeli soldiers.
The military said Harb was a veteran commander responsible for “numerous attacks against IDF soldiers” over the decades.
When considering the expertise required to manage such operations, Reese observed: “Over a 20-year career, this is difficult to say. Given Iran’s well-known funding and support to Hezbollah and its experience fighting the Israelis in multiple conflicts, he likely had a mix of internal and external training combined with combat experience.”
“Harb was targeted as part of an effort to disrupt Hezbollah’s war-making infrastructure and limit its ability to continue to plan and execute large bombing operations against the IDF and civilian targets.”
“The loss of Abed Harb by Hezbollah is not just a loss of leadership but of institutional knowledge,” Reese added.
“His two decades of battlefield experience were significant to Hezbollah not only because of his bomb-making abilities but because of how he understood the IDF, Hezbollah, and the junior ranks.
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“As a member of Hezbollah since 2006, Harb likely had significant skills in making and disguising bombs over a 20-year career, which will be a blow to Hezbollah’s operational capabilities and infrastructure,” Reese said.
Peruvian presidential candidate Roberto Sanchez visited jailed former president Pedro Castillo as officials counted ballots from the closely contested runoff election against conservative rival Keiko Fujimori.
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