French authorities reveal reason behind Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest

Arrest relates to investigation into child sexual abuse, fraud and other criminal activities

Founder and CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona (Reuters)

The arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in Paris on Saturday related to an investigation into child sexual abuse, drug sales and other criminal activity on the messaging app, French prosecutors have said.

The Russian tech billionaire, who has lived in self-imposed exile from his home country since 2014, remains in custody on Tuesday after the public prosecutor granted extra time for police questioning.

An investigation into “person unnamed” began on 8 July, relating to charges of complicity, laundering, cryptology, refusal to communicate and “criminal association with a view to committing a crime”.

Listed among the complicity charges of the judicial investigation are: “Web-mastering an online platform in order to enable an illegal transaction in organised group; Possessing pornographic images of minors; Acquiring, transporting, possessing, offering or selling narcotic substances; Organised fraud.”

The laundering charge refers to “proceeds derived from organised group’s offences and crimes”, while the cryptology charges are in relation to tools that allegedly “ensure authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration”.

The custody period of Mr Durov was extended until 28 August, after that authorities must decide whether to charge him or release him.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the allegations would require serious evidence to back them up, otherwise it would look like an attempt at censorship.

“The charges are very serious indeed,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. “They require a no less serious basis of evidence. Otherwise they will be a direct attempt to limit freedom of communication.”

Telegram, which has nearly a billion users worldwide, said in a statement on Sunday that Mr Durov has “nothing to hide” and that the messaging app “abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act”. The firm added that its moderation is “within industry standards”.

It concluded: “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for abuse of that platform.”