This is not the first time Telegram's Pavel Durov has gotten into trouble. In 2014, he was in trouble with Putin over VK.

The tech world was shocked when it was announced that Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of instant messaging and social media platform Telegram, had been arrested in France. Durov, who was born in Russia but holds citizenship of France, the United Arab Emirates and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested at Le Bourget airport on Saturday in connection with an investigation launched last month into 12 alleged criminal offenses.

Photo credit: REUTERS

Allegations against Durov

He is accused of facilitating the sale of child sexual abuse material, drug trafficking and fraud, and of facilitating organized crime transactions via Telegram. He is also accused of refusing to provide information or documents to investigators, despite being required to do so by law.

Read also: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested in Paris: Why was he arrested, who is he and how are people reacting?

What is Telegram

While most people know Telegram as a WhatsApp-like instant messaging platform, it serves as a social media platform in its home country of Russia and other former Soviet republics. For example, the office of the Russian president and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky have official accounts on the platform.

Photo credit: Telegram

Durov's first social media project

Telegram was not the first time Durov got into trouble with the authorities, nor was it his first attempt to build a social media platform. Durov's first social media platform was VKontakte, now VK, which was founded in 2006.

Photo credit: REUTERS

The predominantly Russian social media platform was heavily influenced in appearance and even features by its much larger American counterpart Facebook. It was co-founded by Durov, his Israeli classmate Vyacheslav Mirilashvili, and an Israeli investor named Lev Leviev. VKontakte quickly became popular in Russia and other former Soviet republics and, much like Telegram, was a one-stop shop where people could download pirated movies, music, and more.

Photo credit: VK

How Durov was pushed out of VK

Durov got into trouble with the Kremlin in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea. After the Crimean annexation, he allegedly refused to censor anti-Putin posts on VKontakte, which led to his downfall. Durov was “forced” to sell his shares in VKontakte to a Putin ally and left Russia soon after.

Telegram to rival VK

He later moved to the island of St. Kitts and Nevis, where he obtained citizenship and developed Telegram, which he started working on in 2013, into what it is today.

Photo credit: UNSPLASH

Durov, who lost control of VK, wanted Telegram to compete with his first social media platform, and he has largely succeeded. Like VK, Telegram has very lax content moderation policies, making it the go-to place for all kinds of illegal activities, including fraud, drug trafficking, pornography, and pirated content.

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