French-Russian tech billionaire Pavel Durov is due to appear in court on Sunday after being arrested at Paris airport on charges related to his popular messaging app Telegram, sources told AFP.
France reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Durov as part of a preliminary investigation. He faces charges including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime and promoting terrorism.
The arrest has sparked a debate over Telegram’s lax content moderation policies and whether France has the right to crack down on what some observers see as free speech in the name of law enforcement and counterterrorism.
Telegram allows groups of up to 200,000 members. As a result, the platform is accused of facilitating the viral spread of false information and the dissemination of neo-Nazi, pedophile, conspiracy theory and terrorist content.
By locating in the United Arab Emirates, which Durov praised for its business environment and “neutrality,” Telegram has protected itself from moderation laws, he said.
The Moscow Times has collected reactions from Russian and Western politicians and public figures to Durov’s imprisonment in France:
Russian Foreign Ministry
“In response to the information about Durov’s detention, the Russian Embassy in France immediately took the necessary steps to clarify the situation regarding the Russian citizen, although no request was received from the representatives of the businessman (Durov),” the ministry said. told the state news agency TASS.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
“We all know very well how liberal democracies – or rather liberal dictatorships – handle things when it suits them or benefits them. This is not the first case. Previous cases have shown the worst side of the West’s so-called commitment to human rights.” Zakharova said in an interview with the state broadcaster Rossiya 24.
She pointed to what she saw as a double standard applied by Western organizations when Russia pressured Telegram to cooperate and blocked it in 2018 because the company allegedly refused to give the Federal Security Service (FSB) backdoor access to encrypted messages.
“It was a campaign to put pressure on Russia and discredit it in the first place… Will they now launch a similar campaign in support of Telegram and its creator and founder?” asked Zakharova.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
“(Durov) believed that his biggest problems were in Russia, so he left the country and eventually obtained citizenship or residency in other countries. He wanted to be a brilliant ‘citizen of the world’ who could live well without a homeland,” Medvedev said. said in a post on Telegram.
“He has miscalculated. For all our common enemies, he is Russian – and therefore unpredictable and dangerous. He is of different blood… Durov must finally understand that you cannot choose your homeland, just as you cannot choose the time in which you live,” he added.
Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, Vladislav Davankov
“He must be rescued now… His arrest could have political motives and be a means to gain access to personal information of Telegram users. This must not be allowed,” Davankov said on Telegram.
“The world does not know of a messaging platform where such violations do not occur. And yet no one arrests or detains their owners. And that should not happen now,” said Davankov, who took part in a protest against Durov’s detention outside the French embassy in Moscow.
“I call on Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to call on the French authorities to release Pavel Durov from custody,” he added.
Exiled opposition figure and former Navalny adviser Ivan Zhdanov
“The charges of drug trafficking, pedophilia and fraud appear weak. This suggests that his arrest is actually related to his refusal to cooperate with the authorities. Such charges appear unconvincing and poorly constructed,” Zhdanov said. said.
“If Durov knew that there was a case against him in France and decided to fly there anyway, then it is possible that he went there to negotiate. There is a possibility that he will not even be officially arrested and the charges will eventually be dropped… The loudest voices defending Durov come from Russian propaganda. This is fascinating,” he said.
Member of the investigative department of Team Navalny Georgy Alburov
“Durov’s arrest is not only incredibly unfair given the current charges (it is clear that Durov is not involved in terrorism or arms trafficking), but also a serious blow to freedom of speech. Just think of how Telegram resisted blocking in Russia and how it developed its own tools to circumvent these blocks,” Alburov said.
“Freedom for Pavel Durov,” he added.
The exiled US whistleblower Edward Snowden
“Durov’s arrest is an attack on the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression and association. I am surprised and deeply saddened that (French President) Emmanuel Macron went so far as to take hostages to gain access to private communications. This humiliates not only France but the entire world,” said Snowden, who became a naturalized Russian citizen in 2022.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk
“POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme,” Musk published on X (formerly Twitter) regarding Durov’s imprisonment.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson
“Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company Telegram. But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to express their opinions freely. It was a Western country, an ally of the Biden administration and an enthusiastic NATO member, that locked him up.” said Carlson, who interviewed Durov earlier this year.
AFP contributed to the reporting.
