Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of encrypted messaging app Telegram, has been ARRESTED?

Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of encrypted messaging app Telegram, has been arrested in France, according to local reports. The 39-year-old Franco-Russian tech chief had just arrived via private jet when he was arrested at Le Bourget airport in the outskirts of Paris, BFMTV reports. Paris, August 24

TF1 said on its website that Durov was traveling in his private jet, adding that he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation. Both TF1 and BFM said the investigation focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police believed the situation allowed criminal activity to continue on the messaging app.

The reason for Durov’s arrest was revealed

Authorities are searching for a man who set fire to a synagogue in the southern French city of La Grande Motte on Saturday. Telegram did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The French Interior Ministry and police had no comment. TF1 said Durov was traveling from Azerbaijan and was arrested at around 20:00 (18:00 GMT).

Dubai-based Telegram was founded by Russian-born Durov. who left Russia in 2014 after refusing to accede to demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he sold. It seems now a gimmick to compete in the ever-growing race for progress, and they are being brought down by their successes. Durov, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, said that some governments had tried to pressure him but that the app, which now has 900 million active users, was a “neutral platform ” should remain and not a “player of geopolitics”. .