Telegram: Founder of the messaging service arrested in France, Twitter users cry scandal

His name may not mean anything to you: Pavel Durov, and yet you are certainly one of the many users of his end-to-end encrypted messaging service. We are of course talking about Telegram. The founder and boss of this communication tool was arrested this Saturday, August 24 at Le Bourget airport in Paris.

Telegram, an encrypted messaging service in the sights of the authorities

Indeed, French investigators had launched a search warrant against Pavel Durov for several violations of his encrypted messaging service Telegram. Launched in 2013 with the help of his brother Nikolaï, the headquarters of the end-to-end encrypted messaging service is located in Dubai and differentiates itself from other platforms, particularly American ones, because Telegram has always committed to never revealing the personal data and other information of its users.

The idea to launch this messaging service came to Pavel Durov after he was pressured by the Russian authorities when he was managing VK, a social network he had created in Russia before selling it and leaving his country in 2014. By setting up Telegram's headquarters in Dubai, the messaging service therefore escapes moderation rules. In addition, with the possibility of bringing together up to 200,000 people in discussion groups, the messaging service is often accused of circulating fake news but also hateful, racist, pedophile, conspiracy, neo-Nazi and terrorist content.

Pavel Durov arrested in France, Internet users are scandalized

Thus, it is because of a lack of moderation and collaboration with investigators for the criminal uses of his messaging by his users that the justice system decided to issue a search warrant against him.

It was therefore this Saturday evening, between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., that upon his arrival at Le Bourget airport, the man was arrested. The 39-year-old Franco-Russian billionaire was accompanied by his bodyguard and assistant and came from Baku in Azerbaijan. He was due to spend the evening in Paris for dinner. He will be brought before the courts today. Investigators welcomed his arrest, stating “Enough of Telegram's impunity“.

On the social media side, Many Internet users are outraged by the arrest of Pavel Durov. Below, we invite you to discover some reactions on the social network X.