Who is Pavel Durov and what is his app?

Pavel Durov, the CEO of messaging app Telegram, has been arrested in France.

In accordance with officers, the arrest was beneath a warrant for offences associated to the app and the investigation is reportedly about inadequate moderation, with Mr Durov accused of failing to take steps to curb legal makes use of of Telegram.

Telegram mentioned in an announcement that “it’s absurd to assert {that a} platform or its proprietor is liable for abuse of that platform”.

Mr Durov, 39, is a multi-billionaire who’s initially from Russia.

He based the favored Russian social media firm VKontakte.

In 2014, Mr Durov left Russia after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on the platform.

A yr earlier, he had based Telegram and now runs the agency from Dubai within the United Arab Emirates (UAE) the place he now lives.

He holds citizenship of the UAE and France, however Russia has mentioned it nonetheless regards him as a citizen.

Telegram mentioned Mr Durov travels in Europe often.

In an interview with the conservative US media persona Tucker Carlson in April, Mr Durov mentioned he would refuse sure requests from authorities to take away content material from his platform.

He mentioned: “The place we thought it will be crossing the road – it would not be aligning with our values of freedom of speech and defending individuals’s personal correspondence – we’d ignore.”

Telegram is without doubt one of the world’s largest social media and messaging platforms together with Fb, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat.

In July, Mr Durov claimed that Telegram reached 950 million month-to-month energetic customers. It’s in style in Russia and Ukraine, whereas pro-democracy teams in Iran and Hong Kong additionally use it.

Telegram does provide encryption, which suggests the messages can solely be learn on the system that sends them and the system that receives them, however this isn’t the default setting for the person.

The massive distinction between Telegram and comparable companies like WhatsApp is the scale of teams you might be in on Telegram.

WhatsApp limits group sizes to 1,000 customers whereas as much as 200,000 might be in a gaggle on Telegram.

The platform has confronted criticism that disinformation can unfold in these big teams.

Critics have argued the platform has seen the sharing of conspiracist, neo-Nazi, paedophilic, or terror-related content material.

Officers in France have reportedly mentioned its investigation into Mr Durov is in regards to the app’s failure to co-operate with regulation enforcement over drug trafficking, little one sexual abuse and fraud.

Within the UK, the app was scrutinised for internet hosting far-right channels that have been instrumental in organising this month’s violent dysfunction in English cities and cybersecurity specialists say its moderation of extremist and unlawful content material is considerably weaker than different social media corporations and messenger apps.

Following Mr Durov’s arrest, Telegram mentioned its moderation “is inside business requirements and continuously enhancing”.

It mentioned it abides by European Union legal guidelines, together with the Digital Companies Act, which goals to make sure a protected and accountable on-line surroundings.

“Nearly a billion customers globally use Telegram as technique of communication and as a supply of important info,” the app’s assertion learn.

“We’re awaiting a immediate decision of this example. Telegram is with you all.”

Particulars are nonetheless to emerge from the French authorities as to what Mr Durov has truly been arrested for in relation to Telegram.

Nevertheless, it’s fairly unprecedented for the proprietor of a social media or messaging platform to be arrested due to content material on that platform.

Elon Musk posted #FreePavel on X together with a clip of the Telegram founder speaking to Carlson about adjustments the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire had made after buying the location previously referred to as Twitter.

Edward Snowden, the American whistleblower who now lives in Russia after revealing in depth web and telephone surveillance by US intelligence, mentioned on X that Mr Durov’s arrest “is an assault on the essential human rights of speech and affiliation”.

He added: “I’m stunned and deeply saddened that [French President Emmanuel] Macron has descended to the extent of taking hostages as a method for getting access to personal communications. It lowers not solely France, however the world.”