Report: Telegram moderator Pavel Durov arrested in France

Sources told TF1 television that he was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris after arriving from Azerbaijan on his private jet.

The report further stated that as part of a police investigation, an arrest warrant was issued due to a lack of moderators on Telegram, which enabled criminal activities.

Telegram did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Assets.

Durov was born in Russia and lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based. He holds dual citizenship of France and the United Arab Emirates.

He and his brother Nikolai founded Telegram in 2013, but left Russia in 2014 after refusing to provide encrypted user data to Russian intelligence and refusing to shut down opposition communities on a separate social network that he later sold.

According to Forbes, he moved to Dubai in 2017 and became a French citizen in 2021. The company estimates Durov's net worth at $15.5 billion.

Telegram has around 900 million active users and is enjoying growing popularity as a way to communicate more securely via encrypted messages.

Although Telegram is used both in conflict zones and by militant groups, Durov explained that Telegram is a neutral platform and not a “geopolitical actor.”