France police arrested Telegram CEO Pavel Durov

French police arrested Pavel Durov, founder and chief executive of Telegram, due to the lack of content moderation that advantaged criminal activity.

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, was arrested at Bourget airport near Paris on Saturday evening. According to the media, the arrest is linked to an investigation in France concerning the lack of content moderators on Telegram, which authorities believe advantaged criminal activity.

“Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.” reported Reuters. “TF1 and BFM both said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.”

Durov may face indictment as the investigation continues.

According to authorities, the lack of moderation allowed several kinds of criminal activity, including child pornography, money laundering, fraud, and drug trafficking.

Over the years, Telegram has become the privileged communication channel for cybercriminals and other threat actors. Telegram and the French Interior Ministry have not yet commented on the news.

Telegram Messenger is a cloud-based, cross-platform instant messaging service launched in 2013 for iOS and Android. It allows users to exchange messages, share media, and hold voice or video calls, with features like end-to-end encryption for voice calls and optional Secret Chats.

Telegram also supports social networking, enabling large public groups, channels for one-way updates, and the ability to post stories.

Founded by Nikolai and Pavel Durov, Telegram’s headquarters are in Dubai, UAE, with servers distributed globally. As of July 2024, Telegram has over 950 million monthly active users, with India leading in user numbers. The app was the most downloaded worldwide in January 2021 and reached 1 billion downloads by August 2021.

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Pierluigi Paganin

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, newsletter)