French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Monday that authorities had arrested the founder and CEO of the widely used messaging app Telegram. He said it was “not a political decision at all” and that Pavel Durov's fate was in the hands of France's independent judicial authorities. French media reported that Durov was arrested on Saturday because of Telegram's alleged inability to moderate criminal activity on the platform, which is also used by pro-democracy activists around the world.
French police did not immediately confirm Durov's arrest, which reportedly took place at Le Bourget airport north of Paris, but in his own Monday post on social media platform X, Macron said he had read “false information here” about the arrest.
Macron said France remains committed to the principles of “freedom of expression and communication, innovation and entrepreneurship,” but added that “freedoms are exercised within a framework established by law to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.”
“It is the task of the judiciary to enforce the law in complete independence. The arrest of the president of Telegram on French territory took place in the context of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron said. “This is not a political decision at all. It is up to the judges to decide.”
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In a statement released later on Monday, the Paris public prosecutor's office also confirmed Durov's arrest and said the case had been referred “to the Center for Combating Digital Crime (C3N) and the National Anti-Fraud Office (ONAF) for further investigations.”
The prosecutor's office said Durov's pre-trial detention was extended by up to 96 hours on Monday, meaning he could remain in custody for questioning until at least Wednesday.
The statement confirmed that the tech CEO was arrested as part of an investigation into alleged complicity in a wide range of cybercrimes, including links to organized crime and the transmission and creation of child sexual abuse and drug images.
Durov, whose net worth is estimated at over $15 billion, was reportedly arrested shortly after his private jet landed at Le Bourget airport.
Macron did not provide details of the ongoing investigation, but this came after years of criticism that Telegram had allowed anyone, including people with links to organized crime, terrorism and right-wing extremism, to use the app without control. Communications on the app are encrypted, meaning governments cannot censor or regulate what is said or shared on the app.
When asked how ISIS members used Telegram after the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks and whether law enforcement should be given a backdoor into the app, Durov defended the platform, saying: “The interesting thing about encryption is that it can be safe not only for some people.”
Telegram said in a statement that it complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act 2022, which aims to stop the flow of disinformation online, adding that “its moderation meets industry standards and is constantly improving.”
The company said Durov had “nothing to hide and traveled frequently in Europe” and called it “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform.”
Holly Williams, senior foreign correspondent for CBS News, said she could personally attest to the widespread use of Telegram during the war in Ukraine, which she has covered extensively. She said President Volodymyr Zelensky and journalists reporting from the front lines since Russia's ongoing large-scale invasion began in February 2022 have relied heavily on the app.
It has also been used as an important tool by pro-democracy protesters in Russia, Hong Kong and Iran.
Durov was born in Russia but left the country in 2014 after refusing to delete anti-government content on an app he had previously launched.
Holly Williams
