Durov’s name was listed in a register of wanted persons, reports the TV channel LCI. They write that he arrived at the airport in his own private plane, and that he came directly from Azerbaijan.
The channel BFM also reports on the arrest. Both media refer to unnamed sources.
– Lack of moderation
French authorities believe, according to LCI, that Telegram’s lack of moderation and cooperation with the authorities makes the company complicit in, among other things, drug trafficking and fraud.
The company has not responded to Reuters’ request for comment on the matter. Nor have the police or the French Ministry of the Interior.
Russia’s representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, was quick to accuse France of behaving like a dictatorship.
Via Telegram, Marija Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, asks if Western non-governmental organizations will now demand Durov’s release.
– Or will they keep their mouths shut? she asks rhetorically.
900 million users
The service is among the major platforms in social media and has 900 million active users.
39-year-old Durov, who became a French citizen in 2021, is critical of Vladimir Putin’s regime, and fled Russia after refusing to provide user data to the authorities. In several interviews, he has said that he values privacy. He is based in Dubai and has a fortune estimated by Forbes to be 15.5 billion dollars, or over 160 billion Norwegian kroner.
Telegram is particularly widespread in Russia, Ukraine and other republics of the former Soviet Union. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Telegram has become the main source of information from both sides. Among them is President Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s preferred platform.
#French #media #Telegram #founder #arrested #adressa.no
2024-08-25 14:19:27
