Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, the encrypted messaging service and social media app that claims 700 million active users, is being questioned by French cyber crime police over charges that he is complicit in the illegal use of the platform.
The firm’s Russian-born founder and CEO has been detained by French police in an operation initiated by Gendarmerie’s Centre for the Fight Against Cybercrime (C3N) and the National Anti Fraud Office (ONAF).
The 39-year-old, who has joint French and Emirati citizenship, was arrested after arriving in Paris on a private jet on 24 August 2024. He was detained following a judicial investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office on 7 July 2024 into allegations of cyber crime.
Durov is being questioned over 12 alleged charges that include refusing to supply information requested by law enforcement required to carry out lawful interceptions of the platform.
He is also accused of complicity with the platform’s use for processing child abuse images, distributing narcotics and organised fraud, as well as laundering proceeds of offences and crimes.
In a statement posted on social media site X, Telegram wrote that the platform abides by European Union laws, including the Digital Services Act.
“Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” it said. “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 a means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation.”
Judicial matter
News of Durov’s arrest was initially reported on LinkedIn by Jean-Michel Bernigaud, secretary general of Ofmin, France’s child protection unit. Bernigaud’s LinkedIn accounts and posts appear to have since been deleted.
French president Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that Durov’s arrest was a judicial matter rather than a political move. “France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship,” he said. “It will remain so. The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”
Duval, who was born in the former Soviet Union, founded Russian social network VK – Russia’s equivalent of Facebook – but left the country in 2014, after being placed under pressure by the Russian government to disclose data on users of the platform.
In an interview with US right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson in April, Duval claimed that he moved to Dubai after facing similar pressure from the US government to introduce backdoors into Telegram. He said the company employed 30 engineers and had no HR department. The company relies entirely on word of mouth to win new users.
Telegram positions itself as an anti-censorship platform, claiming to have played a prominent role in pro-democracy movements in Iran, Russia, Belarus, Myanmar and Hong Kong.
The service provides encrypted messaging capability using “secret chats”. Unlike other encrypted messaging apps, such as Signal or WhatsApp, encryption is not turned on by default.
It allows messages to be shared in groups of up to 200,000 people and for material to be broadcast over channels to large audiences.
Encryption breaches
The French indictment accuses Duval of breaching France’s laws restricting the provision of cryptographic services without “prior declaration”.
Under French law, operators of encrypted communications services may face fines, prison sentences or confiscation of their products without seeking formal approval.
Law enforcement agencies and governments have been putting pressure on encrypted messaging services to introduce technology such as client-side scanning to detect illegal content.
In August, the National Crime Agency, in the wake of the Huw Edwards scandal, claimed that technology was available to identify illegal images, but that tech companies such as WhatsApp were not using it.
However, such proposals to require tech companies to use technologies to identify illegal images in encrypted services have been widely criticised by leading cryptographers and computer scientists, who argue that such technology will fundamentally undermine the use of encryption.
Duval’s arrest has raised concerns for other providers of encrypted messaging services. Andy Yen, CEO and founder of encrypted mail service Proton, described the charges against Durov as “insane” in a post on X. “If sustained, I don’t see how tech founders could possibly travel to France, much less hire in France. This is economic suicide, and is rapidly and permanently changing the perception of founders and investors.
He said the extraterritorial nature of the charges against Durov was also troubling. “France is saying that a service operating on servers in a foreign jurisdiction and based overseas can now be subject to its jurisdiction,” he wrote. “The only [French] connection is that Durov made the mistake of obtaining FR nationality.”