(FILES) Pavel Durov, CEO and co-founder of Telegram speaks onstage throughout day one in all TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015 at Pier 70 on September 21, 2015 in San Francisco, California. | Photograph by Steve JENNINGS / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP
PARIS, France — French judicial authorities on Sunday prolonged the detention of the Russian-born founder and chief of Telegram Pavel Durov after his arrest at a Paris airport over alleged offences associated to the favored however controversial messaging app.
His arrest on the Le Bourget airport outdoors Paris late Saturday is the most recent extraordinary twist within the profession of one of many world’s most influential tech icons.
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The detention of Durov, 39, was prolonged past Sunday evening by the investigating Justice of the Peace who’s dealing with the case, in accordance with a supply near the investigation. This preliminary interval of detention for questioning can last as long as a most of 96 hours.
When this part of detention ends, the decide can then determine to free him or press prices and remand in additional custody.
Russia has accused France of “refusing to cooperate” and fellow tech mogul Elon Musk swept to his defence. Durov holds a French passport along with different nationalities.
Durov had arrived in Paris from Baku, Azerbaijan, and was planning to have dinner within the French capital, a supply near the case mentioned.
He was accompanied by a bodyguard and a private assistant who all the time accompany him, added the supply, asking to not be named.
France’s OFMIN, an workplace tasked with stopping violence towards minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov in a preliminary investigation into alleged offences together with fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organised crime and promotion of terrorism, one other supply mentioned.
Durov is accused of failing to take motion to curb the felony use of his platform.
Telegram mentioned in response that “Durov has nothing to cover and travels continuously in Europe.”
“Telegram abides by EU legal guidelines, together with the Digital Companies Act — its moderation is inside trade requirements,” it added. “It’s absurd to say {that a} platform or its proprietor are liable for abuse of that platform.”
‘Assault on fundamental human rights’
Durov based Telegram in 2013 after his first mission, the Russian social community VKontakte (VK), bumped into possession difficulties he blamed on the Kremlin.
Telegram has change into vastly well-liked partly because of the ease of viewing and posting movies on its messaging “channels”.
However critics accuse it of internet hosting usually unlawful content material starting from excessive sexual imagery, disinformation and in addition companies for getting medicine.
Russia’s embassy to Paris mentioned it had demanded entry to Durov however had had no response from France, saying “the French facet is refusing to cooperate”.
Russian overseas ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mentioned Moscow had requested for consular entry, however since Durov additionally had French citizenship “France considers that it’s his important nationality”.
Musk, who leads the Tesla automotive group and the X social media, previously Twitter, posted the hashtag #FreePavel on X and commented in French, “Liberte Liberte! Liberte?” (Freedom Freedom! Freedom?).
US whistleblower Edward Snowden, who took asylum in Russia, blasted “an assault on the fundamental human rights of speech and affiliation”, saying he was saddened Paris had “descended to the extent of taking hostages as a method for getting access to non-public communications.”
‘Independence, privateness, freedom’
A supply near the case expressed shock that Durov had flown to France with a warrant towards him. “Maybe he had a sense of impunity,” mentioned the supply.
Le Bourget is now utilized by non-public planes quite than common industrial visitors. Additionally it is famed because the place the Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defected to the West in 1961.
Telegram, an encrypted messaging app primarily based in Dubai, has positioned itself as a substitute for US-owned platforms, which have been criticised for his or her industrial exploitation of customers’ private information.
Telegram has dedicated to by no means disclosing details about its customers.
In a uncommon interview given to right-wing speak present host Tucker Carlson in April, Durov mentioned he received the concept to launch an encrypted messaging app after coming below stress from the Russian authorities whereas working at VK.
He mentioned he then tried to settle in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco earlier than selecting Dubai, which he praised for its enterprise surroundings and “neutrality”.
Folks “love the independence. Additionally they love the privateness, the liberty, (there are) lots of explanation why someone would swap to Telegram,” Durov informed Carlson.
He mentioned on the time that the platform had greater than 900 million energetic customers.
By basing itself within the United Arab Emirates, Telegram has shielded itself from moderation legal guidelines at a time when Western nations are pressuring massive platforms to take away unlawful content material.
Telegram permits teams of as much as 200,000 members, which has led to accusations that it makes it simpler for false info to unfold virally, in addition to for customers to disseminate neo-Nazi, paedophilic, conspiratorial and terrorist content material.
Competitor messaging service WhatsApp launched worldwide limits on message forwarding in 2019 after it was accused of enabling the unfold of false info in India that led to lynchings.
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