(Reuters) – Pavel Durov, billionaire owner and chief executive officer of the Telegram messaging application, was apprehended at the Bourget airport terminal outside Paris on Saturday night, TF1 television and BFM television stated, mentioning unrevealed resources.
TF1 and BFM both stated the examination was concentrated on an absence of mediators on Telegram, which authorities took into consideration that this scenario enabled criminal task to take place undeterred on the messaging application.
Telegram did not right away reply to a Reuters ask for remark. The French Interior Ministry and authorities had no remark. Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated it was taking actions to “clarify” the scenario and examined whether Western non-governmental companies (NGOs) would certainly seek his launch.
What is understood about Durov and Telegram:
* Russian- birthed Durov, 39, is owner and proprietor of messaging application Telegram, a complimentary to utilize system that takes on various other social media sites systems such as Facebook’s What sApp, or Instagram, TikTok andWechat The system intends to exceed one billion energetic regular monthly customers within a year.
* Telegram is significant in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the previousSoviet Union It has actually ended up being a vital resource of details on Russia’s battle in Ukraine, made use of greatly by both Moscow and Kyiv authorities. Some experts call the application “a virtual battlefield” for the battle.
* Durov, whose lot of money was approximated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, left Russia in 2014 after rejecting to follow federal government needs to close down resistance areas on his VKontakte social media sites system, which he marketed.
* Russian and French media state Durov ended up being a French person in 2021. He relocated himself and Telegram to Dubai in 2017.
* “I would rather be free than to take orders from anyone,” Durov informed united state reporter Tucker Carlson in April regarding his departure from Russia and look for a home for his business that included jobs in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco.
* In the exact same meeting, Durov stated that, past cash or Bitcoin, he had no significant residential or commercial property such as property, jets or luxury yachts, as he intended to be cost-free.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by David Gregorio)
