Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested by French police at an airport north of Paris.
Mr Durov was detained after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport, French media reported.
According to officials, the 39-year-old billionaire was arrested on a warrant for charges related to the popular messaging app.
It is reported that the investigation is about the lack of moderators, and Mr. Durov is accused of failing to take measures to stop the criminal use of Telegram.
Mr Durov was born in Russia and lives in Dubai. He holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France.
The Telegraph is very popular in Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union.
The app was banned in Russia in 2018, after Mr Durov’s earlier refusal to hand over user data. But the ban was pushed back to 2021.
Telegram i It is considered as one of the largest social networks behind Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.
Mr. Durov founded Telegram in 2013 and he he left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to close dissident communities on his VKontakte social network, which he sold.
On Sunday, the Russian Embassy in France said it wanted to reach Mr Durov.
It wrote on Facebook: “After the media reports about the arrest of P. Durov, the French authorities were immediately asked to clarify the reasons for the arrest and to provide the protection of Mr. Durov’s rights and to facilitate consular access.
“As of today, the French authorities, for now, are not cooperating with this matter.
“We are in contact with P. Durov’s lawyer.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted on Telegram asking whether Western human rights organizations would remain silent on Mr Durov’s arrest, after criticizing Russia’s decision to “create obstacles” to Telegram’s work in Russia in 2018.
Many Russian officials have condemned the arrest of the businessman.
The owner of X, Elon Musk, who has faced a lot of criticism for the moderation of his mobile devices, has posted several times about the situation. He hashtagged one #freepavel, and wrote in another: “POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being killed for liking a meme.”
Telegram allows groups of up to 200,000 members, which critics have argued makes it easier for misinformation to spread virally, and for users to share content that includes conspiracies, neo-Nazis, children, or terrorism.
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