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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was a self-styled free speech advocate. Then he was arrested<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n French authorities detained<\/a> Durov on Saturday when a private plane carrying him landed at Le Bourget airport north of Paris. The Russian tech CEO and founder of the online messaging app Telegram built a reputation<\/a> as being an anti-establishment figure who protected ordinary people\u2019s right to express themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy number one priority in life is my freedom,\u201d Durov told<\/a> Tucker Carlson in an interview in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n After a 96-hour detainment, French law enforcement transferred<\/a> Durov to a court Wednesday evening, where he will be questioned by a judge and face possible indictment. In the French legal system certain types of judges, known as a juge d\u2019instruction<\/em>, have investigative powers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Prosecutors allege Telegram was \u201ccomplicit\u201d in a series of illegal activities including gun and drug sales, the distribution of child pornography, and acted as a communication system for terrorist groups, according to a press release<\/a> from the Judicial Court of Paris. The company is also accused of not turning over<\/a> materials that would have been pertinent to the government\u2019s investigation, which it was required to by law.\u00a0<\/p>\n Durov\u2019s brief time in a holding cell rallied supporters who see him as a free speech icon, while incensing critics who consider Durov to be the paragon of an obtuse tech CEO who conflates content moderation with censorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Durov was still living in Russia, he regularly stood up to the country\u2019s restrictive authorities. His first company, a Russian version of Facebook<\/a> called VKontakte, eventually became so popular that it drew scrutiny from the Russian government, which demanded he\u00a0hand over information about anti-government and pro-Ukrainian protesters. When Durov refused, the government sent a SWAT team<\/a> to his house. Eventually, Durov sold VKontakte and left Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a simple choice: Either betray our values or keep our values and leave Russia to try to do something new,\u201d Durov said in a 2017 interview.<\/p>\n Durov\u2019s defiance of Russian authority gave him the aura of a business leader who stood up for free expression. So when he was detained in France, his supporters saw parallels.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a post<\/a> on X<\/a>, the whistleblower Edward Snowden called Durov\u2019s arrest \u201can assault on the basic human rights of speech and association.\u201d X owner Elon Musk posted<\/a> a clip of Durov\u2019s interview with Carlson, adding #FreePavel.\u00a0<\/p>\n The charges levied against Durov, and his alleged actions since leaving Russia, depict an executive who was possibly idealistic about free expression but certainly indifferent to law enforcement. Over the years, authorities across the globe sent Telegram subpoenas and court orders regarding illegal activity on its platform to Durov and the company, according<\/a> to the Wall Street Journal<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n In fact, one of the charges outlined by French prosecutor Laure Beccuau was that Durov and Telegram had not provided documents and information when required by law enforcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Telegram did not respond to a request for comment from Fortune<\/em>. In a statement posted after Durov\u2019s arrest, Telegram said it follows EU laws. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,\u201d Telegram\u2019s post said. \u201cAlmost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information. We\u2019re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.\u201d<\/p>\n It is likely that Durov\u2019s refusal to respond to official requests caught up with him, legal experts say. While platforms are granted free speech protections in France, those protections don\u2019t apply once they\u2019ve been informed of illegal activity, according to Alan Walter, a lawyer at the Paris-based law firm Walter Billet. \u201cHe knows there is illicit content,\u201d Walter said of Durov. \u201cHe cannot ignore it\u2026and he does nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe could imagine that by dealing with Telegram, and facing constant refusal to cooperate and to respond to law enforcement official requests, that has created some frustration,\u201d said Ahmed Baladi, a partner at the Paris office of the law firm Gibson Dunn, who specializes in IT law.\u00a0<\/p>\n Telegram channels have been used for drug dealing, arms sales, child pornography, and terrorism, according to French authorities. ISIS members used Telegram to share propaganda in the lead up to the group\u2019s 2015 terror attacks in Paris. In the aftermath of those attacks Telegram did remove<\/a> ISIS-related content from the platform. Meanwhile, in 2023 a Brazilian court suspended<\/a> Telegram after it refused<\/a> to turn over information<\/a> about two neo-Nazi groups accused of inciting violence. During his interview with Carlson, Durov also said he ignored letters from the U.S. Congress regarding information about the January 6 riot in the U.S. Capitol.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe checked it with our lawyers, and they said, \u2018you better ignore it,\u2019\u201d Durov said. \u201cBut the letter seemed very serious.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nRecommended reading:<\/strong>
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