Who is Pavel Durov? Telegram creator, Russian expatriation and daddy to over 100 youngsters

Pavel Durov, the creator of the widely preferred messaging application Telegram, continues to be in apprehension in France after being detained over the weekend break as component of a continuous judicial examination.

The 39-year-old technology billionaire has actually been referred to as Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg for his duty in starting the social media sites system VK, nonetheless he was required to leave the firm in 2014 after rejecting to follow federal government needs to share information of activists that were energetic on the website.

He remained to run Telegram from Dubai, having actually gotten twin citizenship from the UAE and France, and took a trip on a regular basis throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe prior to his apprehension on Saturday.

The apprehension was apparently regarding not enough small amounts on Telegram, with French President Emmanuel Macron claiming on Monday that it was“in no way a political decision” An authorities speaker included that the examination pertaining to an absence of conformity with cyber and economic criminal offenses performed on Telegram.

Telegram had 950 million energetic individuals in July 2024, according to Durov, making it the globe’s 4th most preferred messaging system behind WhatsApp, We Conversation andFacebook Messenger In a declaration on Sunday, Telegram stated Durov had “nothing to hide” which the application abides by EU legislations and complies with sector criteria when it pertains to small amounts.

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” mentioned the message, which was uploaded to the firm’s authorities network on the Telegram application. “We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”

The Russian expatriation hardly ever provides media meetings yet commonly shares individual updates and understandings via his Telegram network, which has greater than 11 million clients.

In 2019, he stated that he had actually surrendered consuming food as component of an extreme diet plan targeted at boosting his efficiency and emphasis, while an extra current article exposed that he has more than 100 youngsters.

“I was just told that I have over 100 biological kids,” he composed in a blog post to his authorities Telegram network on 29July “Fifteen years ago, a friend of mine approached me with a weird request. He said that he and his wife couldn’t have kids due to a fertility issue and asked me to donate sperm at a clinic for them to have a baby.

“The boss of the clinic told me that ‘high quality donor material’ was in short supply and that it was my civic duty to donate more sperm to anonymously help more couples… Fast forward to 2024, my past donating activity has helped over a hundred couples in 12 countries to have kids. Moreover, many years after I stopped being a donor, at least one IVF clinic still has my frozen sperm available for anonymous use by families who want to have kids.”

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The technology billionaire included that he intends to “open-source” his DNA to ensure that his organic youngsters can discover each various other even more quickly.

“Of course there are risks,” he informed his 11 million clients, “but I don’t regret having been a donor. The shortage of healthy sperm has become an increasingly serious issue worldwide, and I’m proud that I did my part to help alleviate it.”

His apprehension has actually motivated stricture from personal privacy and totally free speech supporters, with NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden explaining it as “an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association”.

The application has actually dealt with debate, having actually been made use of by everybody from Islamic State terrorists to the current UK rioters, that arrange and share details secretive teams. Telegram claims that “calls to violence” are clearly restricted which any type of networks including them are eliminated. At an occasion in 2015, Durov stated that he thought “the right for privacy is more important than our fear of bad things happening, like terrorism”.

In his last message, uploaded on 14 August, Durov composed: “When I turned 11 in 1995, I made a promise to myself to become smarter, stronger and freer every day. Today Telegram turns 11 years old, and it’s ready to make the same commitment.

“Every day, Telegram should become: Smarter (more features for the people); Stronger (more popularity among users); Freer (more independent and self-sufficient).”