Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Pavel Durov, co-founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget Airport in Paris on Saturday after flying in from Azerbaijan.
The Details: French officials had issued a search warrant as part of an investigation into Durov over concerns that Telegram’s lack of content moderation makes it complicit in crimes like drug trafficking, terrorism, child pornography, and fraud. He is expected to appear before a judge on Sunday.
For Context: Telegram has over 900 million users worldwide. Durov lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and is a citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates. He was also a co-founder of the popular Russian social network VKontakte (VK).
Tucker Interview: In April, Tucker Carlson (Right bias) interviewed Durov. Both The New York Post (Lean Right bias) and Reuters (Center bias) mentioned this in their coverage. During this interview, Durov told Carlson that the FBI previously approached a Telegram engineer covertly, asking them to install a “backdoor” into the platform. Most mainstream outlets did not mention these accusations, but Newsweek (Center bias) did.
How The Media Covered It: The New York Post described Durov as “a staunch free speech advocate.” Reuters and The Post noted much of the same context, including that Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing to give Russian officials access to user data and how the platform was banned there from 2018 to 2020. They also described Telegram as a platform where independent reporting on the Ukraine war spreads.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Telegram app founder Pavel Durov reportedly arrested at French airportPavel Durov, billionaire co-founder and chief executive of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV said, citing an unnamed source.
Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France.
The 39-year-old is understood to have been travelling from Azerbaijan and was arrested at about 8pm local time (6pm GMT).
Durov was expected to appear in court on Sunday.
The Russia-born entrepreneur lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and...
From the Center
Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in FrancePavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unidentified sources.
Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.
TF1 and BFM both said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go...
From the Right
Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested at Paris airport: reportPavel Durov, the co-founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested at an airport in Paris Saturday after getting off his private jet, according to French media reports.
The billionaire Russian exile was arrested at around 8 p.m. at Le Bourget airport by French cops after flying in from Azerbaijan, French outlet TF1 Info reported.
French authorities had issued a search warrant as part of a preliminary investigation into Durov — a staunch free speech advocate — and his encrypted messaging app, which has some 900 million users worldwide.
Law...
AllSides Picks
September 17th, 2024
September 18th, 2024