Hashtags such as #FreePavelDurov are trending on social media following reports of the arrest of Pavel Durov, the CEO and founder of Telegram, a messaging app.
Pavel Durov is a Russian-French techpreneur and one of the billionaires in the big tech industry.
Durov was born in Russia. It is where he and his brother started Telegram 11 years ago. After founding the messaging app, Durov was forced to leave Russia over pressure to block groups opposed to Vladmir Putin on the social media platform VKontakte.
With about one billion users, Durov’s Telegram app is one of the main social media platforms in the world, competing with Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.
Durov’s Telegram is still popular in Russia. However, now even in Europe he is facing trouble as some governments there seek to moderate social media posts in what people like X owner Elon Musk think is a violation of freedom of speech.
Reports indicated that Pavel Durov was arrested at Bourget airport in the evening of Saturday.
TF1 said Durov was travelling using his private jet when the arrest was made.
The publication further claimed that France had an arrest warrant targeting Durov and that the arrest would form an event in a probe by the French police.
French media reports also claimed that Durov was in trouble over concerns of lack of moderation on Telegram.
The French state reportedly looked at lack of moderators as breeding criminals on the messaging app, and that their activities would be difficult to detect and be prevented.
On what would be next for Pavel Durov, Reuters quoted French media as reporting that the billionaire faces possible indictment on Sunday.
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