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UPDATE NOON ET: Paris' Court of Justice confirms to PCMag that Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested and taken into custody on Saturday.
Durov's arrest "comes in the context of a judicial investigation" that started on July 8 concerning a "person unnamed," the court says. That person—presumably Durov—faces a dozen different charges, including a refusal to communicate with French law enforcement, complicity in gang transactions and criminal organization activity, complicity in the possession and distribution of child pornography, complicity in the distribution of narcotics, complicity in gang-related fraud, laundering, and potential violations around cryptography and encryption, to name a few.
Six of the charges are related to complicity, and three are related to alleged cryptography violations (in France, complicity in crime can be prosecuted).
The statement suggests that criminal charges could be on the horizon regarding Telegram and the content distributed via the app.
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted today about seeing "false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov." He argued that "France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship," and says Durov's arrest "is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter."
Original Story:
The founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram was arrested in France on Saturday after landing in the country on his private jet, multiple news outlets reported, citing unnamed sources. Pavel Durov, 39, is reportedly being detained and questioned because of an existing French warrant.
Telegram, and therefore Durov, are being accused of allegedly not taking enough action to prevent, moderate, and stop criminal uses of Telegram, as well as not cooperating with law enforcement requests. Al Jazeera reported that OFMIN, France's authority tackling violence against children, is investigating Durov and Telegram over concerns of alleged fraud, drug trafficking, promotion of terrorism, organized crime, and cyberbullying on the platform. Telegram has also been repeatedly accused of hosting and not taking enough action to stop child sexual abuse material and self-harm material from proliferating on its app. An OFMIN representative declined to comment.
Earlier this year, a cybersecurity firm dubbed Telegram a "scammer's paradise" after it found an ecosystem of phishing attack kits available for purchase across multiple channels. Some scammers also attempt to trick victims via Telegram, often by posing as legitimate individuals. Cybercrime groups also run their own Telegram channels, and law enforcement agencies like the FBI have attempted to take some of them down by hacking into or otherwise breaching the groups themselves.
Telegram, however, not does believe its platform or Durov have done anything wrong and says it's following EU laws. "Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe," the company said in a statement on Sunday. "It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform."
Telegram also linked to a March post from Durov, in which he claims that platforms like Facebook or Telegram are "easy targets for criticism" because of the content they host. Telegram's Terms of Service prohibit using it to spam or scam others, promote violence, or share illegal pornographic content.
"We're awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation," Telegram said.
While some refer to Telegram as an encrypted messaging app, Telegram chats and channels are not encrypted by default. Users have to convert their chats and groups to "secret" in order for them to be encrypted. But not all encryption is created equal, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation's cybersecurity director suggested over the weekend that Telegram may not be as private as it might seem, accusing it of having "questionable" cryptography.
Durov, who claims to have over 100 biological children, was born in Russia and holds French and UAE passports. He left Russia in 2014 after allies of President Putin took over his Russian social media site, VKontakte. He then focused his efforts on Telegram, which he had founded back in 2013 with his brother, Nikolai.