The news
French authorities on Saturday arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in connection with an investigation into the messaging app’s lack of moderators.
His lawyer called Sunday’s arrest “absolutely ridiculouswith Russian media and right-wing commentators calling his arrest an attack on freedom of expression.
The 39-year-old Russian billionaire was arrested shortly after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport in Paris.
Durov, a French-Emarati citizen, fled Russia in 2014 because he did not agree to Kremlin demands to suppress opposition voices on VK, another social media platform he founded. He “can hardly be called a Russian patriotRussian state media RIA Novosti wrote on Sunday, but Moscow still called his arrest politically motivated.
Durov “misjudged” that he would leave Russia, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Reuters, adding that “for all our common enemies, he is now Russian – and that is why unpredictable and dangerous.”
X owner Elon Musk, who has been targeted by the EU over the lack of moderation on his own platform, said the arrest is an attack on freedom of speech.
“It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re executed for liking a memeposted Musk.
Durov founded Telegram in 2013 as a messaging platform to communicate securely while under pressure in Russia. He pitched the app as a “neutral platform“and not a player in geopolitics,” Reuters reported.
But since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the app has become the dominant communications platform for both Moscow and Kiev, with both sides accused of posting misleading and often explicit propaganda to mobilize their supporters.
