When Telegram founder-CEO Pavel Durov’s private jet landed in Paris-Le Bourget Airport late in the night on August 24, French police officials were waiting for the globetrotting billionaire with an arrest warrant. The 39-year-old was briefly informed of a judicial inquiry about child abuse material being circulated through his messaging platform, and was quickly taken into custody.
Durov had just landed in Paris from Azerbaijan capital Baku, where he spent a few days reportedly to meet some business associates. His stay coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day state visit to Azerbaijan on August 18-19, leading to speculation that the two had a meeting. However, Kremlin sources later clarified that no such meeting took place. Russian media said Durov sought an audience with Putin but the latter refused to meet the tech entrepreneur who fled Moscow a decade ago after refusing to toe the Putin regime’s line.
French police kept the tech tycoon in custody for four days before he was released by a court on August 29 and put on ‘judicial supervision’. This means though he has been granted bail, he remains a person of interest in the cases under investigation. The stringent bail conditions include a deposit of 5 million euros, ban on leaving France, presenting himself at the designated police station twice a week, and being confined to his home at specified hours.
Though the order doesn’t explicitly says so, he will be under surveillance round the clock.
Shock and anger
The rare, drastic action by the French authorities to physically detain a tech tycoon for alleged misuse of his platform caused alarm among other tech leaders and anger in his motherland Russia and the UAE, where his business is headquartered.
US-based tech mogul Elon Musk said Durov’s arrest signals dangerous times ahead for free speech and called for his release, while Russia warned France its citizen should not be harmed for political reasons. Moscow also blamed the US saying the Biden administration targeted the influential messaging platform to curb the free flow of uncensored information ahead of the presidential elections.
“Telegram is one of the few and at the same time the largest Internet platforms over which the United States has no influence,” said Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Following allegations that the arrest was due to political reasons, French President Emmanuel Macron came on record to clarify it was a judicial decision.
As for Telegram, it claimed the company abides by all laws of the European Union, including the stringent Digital Services Act, which requires platforms to police harmful content and disinformation more closely. In its initial reaction to Durov’s arrest, it said: “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for abuse of that platform.”
Durov has also claimed in the past that the platform routinely takes down images. However, Telegram remains perhaps the most unmoderated app available for public use and this feature has made it popular among extremists, terrorists, and scammers.
Charges that led to the arrest
The charges against Durov stem from a judicial probe launched on July 8 against ‘X’ or an unnamed person – a French judicial term to imply whoever is in charge of the company right now. The list of charges released by the Paris criminal court, which is in charge of the investigation, include running a company that has been complicit in storing and distributing child abuse material and facilitating drug trafficking and other illegal transactions. If convicted, he could get a prison term of 10 years. The other charges include ‘almost total lack of response’ to judicial requisitions.
Broadly, the charges against
Durov include:
Complicity in storing and distributing child sexual abuse content, facilitating drug trafficking, organised fraud, and other illegal transactions.
Ignoring formal requests from law enforcement agencies for information on crimes
Using cryptographic features that not certified by French authorities
Money laundering
Of this, the second charge -- not responding to legal notices – seems to have triggered the drastic action. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau confirms as much in her statement: “This is what led JUNALCO (National Jurisdiction for the Fight against Organized Crime) to open an investigation into the possible criminal liability of this messaging service’s executives in the commission of these offenses.” According to her, the preliminary investigation began in February 2024 and were coordinated by the by OFMIN (Office for Minors) that is tasked with preventing violence against minors. It is OFMIN that issued the arrest warrant against the Telegram chief.
Status of the case
According to the Paris prosecutor, Telegram “appears in multiple cases involving various offenses (child pornography, trafficking, online hate speech)”. For now, Durov has been placed under judicial supervision, which means he is under formal investigation and will be treated as a suspect of all the charges.
In the French judicial system, placing an accused under formal investigation is necessary to take a case to trial. However, it does not imply guilt or guarantee trial will happen. If investigators realise they don’t have a strong case, the probe could be shelved. But the step means there’s a substantial reason to pursue a probe.
A perusal of the charges made against ‘X’ shows that these are both sweeping and dynamic. In other words, if the investigators want it that way, they can widen the scope and create endless trouble for Durov.
Telegram to do more
After his release, Durov said he was “surprised” by his detention and criticised the French authorities for their ‘misguided’ approach to charge him using archaic laws. He pointed out that Telegram has an official representative in the EU whose email address is in the public domain. “If a country is unhappy with an internet service, the established practice is to start a legal action against the service itself. Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” he said in a detailed statement.
Objecting to labeling the platform as an ‘anarchic paradise’, he said: “We take down millions of harmful posts and channels every day. We have direct hotlines with NGOs to process urgent moderation requests faster.”
According to Telegram’s transparency report, over 20,000 groups and channels related to child abuse and over 3,000 ‘terrorist bots’ and channels were banned between September 1 and 11.
Durov says Telegram’s mission is to protect its users in authoritarian regimes, adding that it will leave markets that aren’t compatible with its principles than surrender. However, he concedes that the platform is far from perfect, citing the challenge to find a right balance between privacy and security. To this end, Durov is working on improving the app’s features to prevent criminals from misusing the platform.
Broader implications
Durov’s shocking arrest and subsequent slapping of charges have ignited a heated debate on the freedom of expression. Among those who questioned the French action is influential tech leader Elon Musk who calls himself a free speech absolutist. Free speech proponents warn that this could set a dangerous precedent for other social media executives, including Mark Zuckerberg and Musk.
The arrest has ignited discussions in media and public forums about the responsibilities of tech leaders and the extent to which they should be held accountable for content shared on their platforms. Durov’s case highlights the challenges governments face in regulating digital platforms to curb criminal activities. While it is risky to act against popular messaging apps, concerned authorities can’t also look away when such platforms are misused by organised gangs and terror syndicates.
The French probe into Durov will be closely watched by other countries to nuance their own approach to ensuring compliance of big tech companies with their respective domestic laws, while at the same respecting free speech rights.
Reclusive and enigmatic
Pavel Durov, 39, rarely appears in public and prefers to be away from limelight. He is a vegetarian and abstains from alcohol, recreational drugs, caffeine, and also fast food. A fitness freak, he reportedly follows a punishing regimen. He recently disclosed that he had fathered more than 100 children over 15 years through sperm donation. His net worth is estimated to be over $15 billion
According to his profile on the Telegram website, Pavel Durov holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France. However, there are reports that he acquired the citizenship of Caribbean nation Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2015, a year after he had to leave Russia due to security reasons following his refusal to hand over the personal data of Ukraine protesters to the Russian government. Saint Kitts and Nevis is a tax haven. Its passport holders can travel to some 160 countries, including those in the EU/Schengen area, without visa
Durov started Telegram and initially worked out of Berlin. Later, he shifted the HQ to Dubai. According to some reports, French President Macron has been wooing him to shift base to Paris. That is cited as one of the reasons behind the UAE’s threat to cancel the mega defence deal with France