Telegram Founder Arrested in France in Cybercrime Probe

Telegram’s founder has reportedly been arrested in France as part of a cybersecurity investigation.

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire behind the popular messaging app, was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris and taken into custody shortly after landing on a private jet late Saturday (Aug. 24), Reuters reported.

According to the report, a police source said the arrest was part of a preliminary investigation into whether Telegram allowed a range of criminal activity on its platform due to a lack of moderators. The probe is also looking into a lack of cooperation with police on the part of the company, the source said.

The report said a cybersecurity gendarmerie unit and France’s national anti-fraud police unit are leading the investigation, with an investigative judge who specializes in organized crime.

The company stated on  X Sunday (Aug. 25), saying that it abides by European laws, including the Digital Services Act, and that its moderation conforms to industry standards.

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” the company said. “Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information. “We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”

Earlier this year, Telegram announced it was pivoting to crypto payments for its advertisers, and crypto payouts for content creators using its app, using the Open Network (better known as the TON Blockchain), and its native cryptocurrency, Toncoin.

“We chose the TON Blockchain because it has low fees, high transaction speeds — and holds a record for the number of transactions it can process per second,” the messaging app said in a statement announcing the roll-out.

Earlier this year, Durov told the Financial Times he was considering taking the Dubai-based Telegram public, also noting the company had 900 million users, and is making “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenues from advertising and premium subscription services.

“We are hoping to become profitable next year, if not this year,” he said in his first public interview since 2017.

Durov, who owns 100% of Telegram, said the platform had “been offered $30 billion-plus valuations” from possible investors, including “global late-stage tech funds.” However, the company has no plans to sell while considering a potential initial public offering (IPO).

“The main reason why we started to monetise is because we wanted to remain independent,” he said. “Generally speaking, we see value in [an IPO] as a means to democratize access to Telegram’s value.”