Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has spent the past decade positioning his messaging app as a politically neutral, safe space free from government interference.
“In some markets, Telegram is one of the few remaining free platforms where people can express themselves,” Durov said earlier this year in a rare interview with the Financial Times, his first in seven years, boasting about the platform's use by protesters, human rights activists and refugees.
However, he seemed relaxed about the global proliferation of laws aimed at countering the power of tech companies, as well as growing concerns about the spread of harmful content online. “We are confident that we can adapt,” Durov said. “We do not expect any major challenges in the future.”
That calculation finally backfired in spectacular fashion on Saturday, when the Russian-born businessman, who now holds French Emirati citizenship, was arrested upon landing at an airport outside Paris.
French prosecutors said the move was part of a broader investigation launched in July into inadequate moderation of alleged criminal activity on the messaging app, including the distribution of child sexual abuse content.
No charges have been brought against Durov yet, but investigators may detain him until Wednesday evening.
The arrest is the most drastic attempt yet to hold a platform boss accountable for its content, leaving the fate of the elusive billionaire in the hands of the French judiciary at a time when a highly polarized debate is raging over social media's responsibility for free expression versus online safety.
Some have long expected Durov's arrest. The platform has grown rapidly since its launch in 2013 and now has a billion users. The founder suspects that the platform is on the verge of a lucrative IPO.
But online security researchers have long raised the alarm that Telegram has become a breeding ground for criminals, hackers, disinformation spreaders, conspiracy theorists and extremists fleeing the stricter restrictions at competitors such as Meta's Facebook and Google's YouTube.
“Crimes do appear to be being committed on Telegram, and it was also incredible how often they seemed to get away with it,” said Megan Squire, deputy director of data analysis at the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project.
Squire, who monitors more than 500 of what she estimates to be around 30,000 extremist groups on Telegram, said the platform did not attract lawmakers' attention sooner because it is headquartered in Dubai and funded by Durov himself, who has billions of dollars in crypto assets.
But, she added, the laissez-faire moderation approach “eventually caught up with them.”
Durov was dubbed the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia” after co-founding the country's most popular social network, VKontakte, but he fled the country in 2014 after allegedly refusing to comply with Moscow's demands for access to certain Ukrainian users' data.
Speaking to the FT in March, he insisted that depictions of child abuse and public calls for violence were “red lines” for Telegram.
But Durov said his experiences of repression in Russia had shaped his unwavering belief in protecting freedom of expression, adding that some “young people in the West take freedoms for granted.”
While his French nationality may have played a role in bringing the case under the jurisdiction of the public prosecutor, what is more relevant, according to lawyers in France, is the fact that Telegram is suspected of having committed crimes on French territory.
In addition, French prosecutors and law enforcement agencies have particular expertise in investigating cybercrime, which is led by a special unit of the Paris prosecutor's office known as “J3”.
French police, which specialize in cybercrime, also played a key role in the investigation into the cracking of EncroChat, a communications system used by organized crime, which led to hundreds of arrests and seizures worth millions of euros across Europe in 2020.
One of the allegations being pursued by the French public prosecutor's office in its investigation against Telegram is the refusal to cooperate with the authorities and to hand over information and documents “necessary for the implementation and execution of legally permissible wiretapping measures”.
Last year, Telegram was temporarily banned in Brazil because the company allegedly failed to respond to government requests for data related to neo-Nazi activities.
Sam Woolley, a professor and disinformation expert at the University of Pittsburgh, said there has been a “deep distrust” of Telegram in France since it was used to coordinate terrorists who carried out the 2015 Paris attacks.
“Durov has repeatedly made certain [government] requests … as well as ongoing concerns about terrorism,” Woolley said. “We have not seen the same willful disobedience from companies like Meta.”
The 39-year-old is celebrated as a hero of freedom of expression by libertarians such as entrepreneur Elon Musk and publicly agitates against all government attempts to tighten controls on freedom of expression.
The hashtag #freepavel has gained popularity on Musk's social network X. In Silicon Valley, some accuse France of having too much influence, which could hinder innovation, and others expect far-reaching consequences for some social media activities.
“If I were Elon, I would be paying close attention,” says Katie Harbath, Global Affairs Officer at Duco Experts and former Policy Director at Meta.
Durov has tried to distance himself from his home country Russia in recent years. Speculation that he might remain loyal to the Kremlin because the Moscow leadership frequently uses Telegram is “conspiracy theories.”
However, when asked about his stance on President Vladimir Putin or the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he said: “Let's leave it alone.”
Moscow politicians described the arrest as politically motivated, while French President Emmanuel Macron rejected this claim.
Before Durov's arrest, he flew in from Baku in Azerbaijan, where Russian President Vladimir Putin was staying at the time. Moscow says the two did not meet. Telegram says the businessman has “nothing to hide.”
“He refused to vote for Russia's authoritarian government. But he also tried to resist moderation and not share data with anyone. [democratic] “He's trying to intervene. It seems like you really can't take a stand.”
Child safety experts responded to Durov's arrest by calling for more government action on global online safety. “The only question now is why the US Department of Justice [is] not engaged?” said Benjamin Bull, general counsel at the U.S.-based National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
This growing focus “will be a test for companies of how much they want to resist the institutions that are demanding they remove content,” says Sriram Krishnan, an investor at Andreessen Horowitz.
“If you're a mid-level executive in a company and you could be arrested every time you step off a plane, that's going to set a chilling tone.”
