Telegram boss Pavel Durov, the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia”, arrested at French airport

Paris
CNN
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According to CNN affiliate BFMTV, French authorities arrested Pavel Durov, the French-Russian billionaire and founder of the messaging app Telegram, at an airport outside Paris on Saturday.

Officials from the French Anti-Fraud Office, which is attached to French customs, took him into custody after he arrived at Bourget airport on a flight from Azerbaijan, BFMTV reported.

According to BFMTV, the Telegram founder – often referred to as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia” – has not traveled regularly to France and Europe since the arrest warrant was issued.

Durov, 39, was wanted on a French arrest warrant, according to BFMTV, because Telegram was used for money laundering, drug trafficking and sharing pedophile content due to a lack of moderation. European Union regulators have recently stepped up efforts to crack down on online platforms to combat disinformation and illegal content.

The Russian embassy in France confirmed Durov’s detention on Sunday and said it was in contact with Durov’s lawyer.

French prosecutors did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Durov and his brother Nikolai Durov launched Telegram in 2013. The app reportedly has 900 million active users.

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Pavel Durov has a net worth of $9.15 billion.

He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with the Russian government’s request to hand over data on Ukrainian VKontakte users and now lives in Dubai.

This is a developing story and will be updated.