English
English
Tiếng Việt
ภาษาไทย
繁體中文
한국어
Bahasa Indonesia
Español
Português
zu-ZA
0

Market Analysis

Factbox: Who is the CEO of the messaging service Telegram, Pavel Durov?
Amos Simanungkalit · 7.5K Views

11

Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was reportedly arrested at Bourget Airport near Paris on Saturday evening, according to sources cited by TF1 and BFM TV.

Both French media outlets indicated that the investigation centers on Telegram’s lack of moderation, with police suspecting that this may have allowed criminal activities to occur unchecked on the platform.

Telegram has not yet responded to a request for comment from Reuters. Meanwhile, the French Interior Ministry and police declined to comment. Russia, which has previously attempted to ban Telegram, stated it is working to "clarify" Durov's situation.

Here’s what is known about Durov and Telegram:

Pavel Durov, 39, was born in Russia and is the founder and owner of Telegram, a messaging app that competes with platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat. Telegram, which is free to use, aims to reach over one billion active monthly users within the next year.

Telegram plays a significant role in Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet republics. It has become a crucial source of information regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, used extensively by both Moscow and Kyiv officials. Some analysts have described the app as "a virtual battlefield" for the conflict.

With a fortune estimated at $15.5 billion by Forbes, Durov left Russia in 2014 after refusing government demands to shut down opposition groups on his VKontakte social media platform, which he later sold.

Durov became a French citizen in August 2021. He relocated himself and Telegram to Dubai in 2017 and, according to French media, has also obtained citizenship in the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, Durov is reportedly a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis, a Caribbean nation.

In 2018, Russia started blocking Telegram after the app refused to comply with a court order requiring it to grant state security services access to users’ encrypted messages. This move had minimal impact on Telegram's availability in Russia but sparked mass protests in Moscow and drew criticism from NGOs.

Telegram’s growing popularity has raised concerns in several European countries, including France, regarding security and potential data breaches. In May, EU tech regulators reported being in communication with Telegram as it approached a key usage threshold, which could subject it to more stringent regulations under new EU online content legislation.

In an interview with U.S. journalist Tucker Carlson in April, Durov explained his decision to leave Russia and seek a new home for his company, stating, "I would rather be free than take orders from anyone." His search for a suitable location for Telegram included periods in Berlin, London, Singapore, and San Francisco.

 

 

 

 

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.

Need Help?
Click Here