French authorities detained Pavel Durov, the French-Russian billionaire and founder of the messaging app Telegram, at an airport near Paris on Saturday, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.
Officers from France’s anti-fraud office, affiliated with French customs, took Pavel Durov into custody after his arrival at Bourget Airport on a private jet flight from Azerbaijan, BFMTV reported. According to the same source, the Telegram founder—often dubbed the 'Mark Zuckerberg of Russia'—had not frequently traveled to France and Europe since the arrest warrant was issued.
Durov, 39, was sought under a French arrest warrant due to concerns about insufficient moderation on Telegram, which has been linked to money laundering, drug trafficking, and the distribution of pedophilic content, according to BFMTV. Recent European Union regulations have intensified efforts to combat disinformation and illegal content on online platforms.
On Sunday, the Russian Embassy in France confirmed Durov's detention and stated that it is in contact with his attorney. The French prosecutor’s office has not yet responded to CNN’s request for comment.
Pavel Durov, along with his brother Nikolai Durov, launched Telegram in 2013. The app boasts 900 million active users. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Pavel Durov has a net worth of $9.15 billion. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with requests from the Russian government to hand over data on Ukrainian Vkontakte users and currently resides in Dubai.
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