The founder and CEO of social media and messaging platform Telegram has been arrested, according to French TV network TF1. According to the outlet, CEO Pavel Durov was arrested on August 24 after landing his private jet at Le Bourget Airport in France.
TF1 claims that Durov had a warrant for his arrest in France because of a preliminary police investigation. According to the outlet, which is relying on unnamed sources, police are holding Durov responsible for a lack of content moderation on the platform.
Police believe this has led to money laundering, child sexual abuse, and drug trafficking running rampant on the app.
TF1 also claims that Telegram’s reported reluctance to cooperate with authorities over these issues played a role in the Russian-born tech mogul’s arrest.
The Russian embassy released a statement saying that it had asked for an explanation for the rest. However, it says it has not yet heard back from French authorities.
Telegram CEO has ‘nothing to hide,’ according to the platform
In a social media statement punctuated with emojis, Telegram said its CEO has “nothing to hide.”
“Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act,” the platform tweeted. “Its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving. Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.”
The platform added that “it is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”
“Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information,” it continued. “We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”
This comes after Telegram recently took steps to become a more creator-friendly app. On August 14, the platform announced that it was introducing paid subscriptions to creator channels. Users could now buy these subscriptions with ‘Stars,’ Telegram’s digital currency.
As pointed out by TechCrunch, the purpose of this was to give Telegram creators a Patreon-like business model where creators can charge followers for exclusive or early-access content.
But a CEO facing criminal charges is hardly good publicity for the app — so maybe its creator era is over before it ever really began.
