French President Emmanuel Macron stated that the arrest of Pavel Durov, the founder and leader of the messaging app Telegram, was not political.
“The arrest of the Telegram president on French soil was carried out as part of a judicial investigation,” Macron wrote on X.
“This matter is now in the hands of the judges,” he added.
Durov was detained at Bourget Airport, on the outskirts of Paris, on August 24, and is still being questioned.
Telegram issued a statement saying that Durov “has nothing to hide,” adding that the platform “is awaiting a swift resolution of this situation.”
French media reported that OFMIN, a French office dedicated to preventing violence against minors, had issued an arrest warrant for Durov for suspected offenses including fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, organized crime, and terrorism promotion.
“At the heart of this issue is the lack of content moderation and the platform’s cooperation, particularly in combating pedophilia,” wrote OFMIN’s head, Jean-Michel Bernigaud, in a LinkedIn post.
Based in Dubai, Telegram has more than 900 million users worldwide. During an interview in April, Durov pledged that Telegram aims to be “a neutral platform” and not “a player in geopolitics.”
However, critics in Ukraine have claimed that the platform spreads disinformation and facilitates illegal activities. Some have accused Telegram of having ties to the Russian state and assisting in the war against Ukraine. /REL
