(Reuters) -Pavel Durov, billionaire creator and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was apprehended at the Bourget airport exterior Paris on Saturday night, TF1 TELEVISION and BFM TV stated, pointingout unknown sources.
TF1 and BFM both stated the examination was focused on a absence of mediators on Telegram, and that authorities thoughtabout that this scenario enabled criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.
Telegram did not rightaway respond to a Reuters demand for remark. The French Interior Ministry and authorities had no remark. Russia, which has in the past attempted to restriction Telegram, stated it was taking actions to “clarify” Durov’s circumstance.
What is understood about Durov and Telegram:
Russian-born Durov, 39, is creator and owner of messaging app Telegram, a totallyfree to usage platform that contends with other social media platforms such as Facebook (NASDAQ:)’s WhatsApp, or Instagram, TikTok and Wechat. The platform intends to exceed one billion active month-to-month users within a year.
Telegram is prominent in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the previous Soviet Union. It hasactually endedupbeing a vital source of details on Russia’s war in Ukraine, utilized greatly by both Moscow and Kyiv authorities. Some experts call the app “a virtual battleground” for the war.
Durov, whose fortune was approximated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, left