Pavel Durov, the billionaire CEO of Telegram, was arrested in France. Here's Wha

Topline: Billionaire Telegram CEO Pavel Durov  changed into  arrested in France on Saturday,  more than one  shops  reported, amid an  obvious  research  into  whether or not  Telegram—a freewheeling and  now and again  debatable  messaging and social networking platform—  lets in  crime on its app in  element  because of  a  loss of  moderation.
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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov  changed into  reportedly arrested

•   when it comes to  an  research  into  whether or not  Telegram is used for  crook  activity.

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Key Facts
Durov, 39,  changed into  detained after  touchdown  at Le Bourget Airport in Paris from Azerbaijan on Saturday night, after an arrest warrant  changed into  issued,  in step with  more than one  shops ,  mentioning  unnamed sources.

He  changed into  reportedly arrested as  a part of  an  research  into Telegram's  content material  moderation practices, with investigators believing the messaging app—which has over 950 million  customers —hasn't mitigated  crook  customers  or  nicely  cooperated with  regulation  enforcement  whilst  the app is used for drug trafficking,  infant  sexual  content material  and fraud.

It  changed into  now no longer  clean  as of Sunday afternoon which French  corporation  detained Durov or what  expenses  he's  facing, if any, and the Paris prosecutor's  workplace  declined to  remark  to The New York Times,  mentioning  an open  research .

A  legal professional  for Durov—  who's  from Russia  however  hasn't lived there in  approximately  a decade, and is now Dubai-  primarily based totally —reportedly blasted the arrest, telling Russian media it  changed into  like a  automobile  producer  being blamed for an  coincidence  or  getting used  to move  drugs.

The Russian Embassy in France  stated  in a  declaration  published  to X,  previously  called  Twitter,  round  five  a.m. EDT that it  requested  French  government  for  rationalization  on why Durov  changed into  detained,  however  that France has  now no longer  responded  the request.

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What To Watch For
Durov  ought to  face indictment on Sunday, Reuters reported,  mentioning  French media  shops . He  is ready  to  seem  in  courtroom docket  withinside the  coming days,  in step with  Agence France-Presse.

Forbes Valuation
We estimate Durov to have a  internet  really well worth  of  approximately  $15.  five  billion, making him the  one hundred and fiftieth  wealthiest  man or woman  withinside the  international  as of Sunday morning.


Key Background
Telegram is a messaging platform that competes with apps like WhatsApp and Signal that Durov created in 2013, years after he  based  Vkontakte, Russia's  biggest  social network. The app has  give up -to-  give up  encrypted messaging,  because of this that  messages  aren't  reachable  to  absolutely everyone  however the  sender and receiver,  which includes  the messaging service. It's  additionally  recognized  for its social networking  companies  and channels: After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Telegram  have become  a key  supply  of  communique  and is  often  utilized by  each  Russian and Ukrainian leaders. It's  debatable  due to  its  famous  unfastened  technique  to moderation, which has led extremist  content material  to  seem  at the  app,  aleven though  Durov has defended it as a  secure  haven  totally free  speech and privacy (the  organization  says it blocks terrorist  companies ). For example, after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, the app  noticed  an  boom  in extremists and conspiracy theorists  the use of  it after being  eliminated  from American social media platforms, the Times reported.

Surprising Fact
Durov, who  changed into  born in Russia, fled the  united states  in 2014 after he refused  to conform  with governmental requests to  launch  information  from Ukrainian protest leaders or  close  down  competition  groups  on Vkontakte, The New York Times reported. He  to begin with  resigned from Vkontakte and  stated  his freedom  have been  reduced, Reuters reported,  however  he later  stated  he  changed into  fired after  looking to  withdraw his resignation. Durov is a citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates, and Telegram is now  primarily based totally  in Dubai. Telegram  changed into  banned in Russia from 2018 after its  management  wouldn't  observe  a  courtroom docket  order  asking for  country  protection  offerings  get right of entry to  to its  customers ' encrypted messages, Reuters reported—  aleven though  the ban  changed into  overturned in 2020 after    years of  now no longer  being  effectively  enforced.





Contra
Durov's arrest drew  complaint  from  different  social media executives,  which includes  billionaire X  proprietor  Elon Musk, who  published  a video of Durov praising X with the caption "#FreePavel." Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of Rumble—a video sharing  webweb page  famous  with conservatives—  stated  France "crossed a  pink  line  through  arresting" Durov.



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