French TV station TF1 reports that Pavel Durov has been arrested
The issue of arrest has been related to Telegram’s insufficient moderation
Also, he can face multiple charges including terrorism and trafficking
French TV station TF1 reports that Telegram’s founder and CEO, Pavel Durov has been arrested on arrival at Bourget airport in France from Azerbaijan. Founder and CEO of Telegram, Pavel Durov Arrested
Pavel Durov has French citizenship and real estate and is now being actively searched there as part of a large investigation.
They are not revealing sources but say he could face multiple charges including terrorism, human trafficking, and others.
Details of Pavel Durov’s Arrest
So, while there is no official information yet, and TF1 cites its unnamed sources close to the matter, claims that “this search warrant was issued if and only if Pavel Durov was on national territory.”
All of this makes one wonder about the validity of the information, as Pavel Durov is notoriously cautious about which locations to visit. In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, he said he doesn’t fly to Europe often and avoids visiting countries “where Telegram is under surveillance.”
TF1 also claims that he is facing multiple charges in connection with insufficiently moderated accounts and encrypted p2p messages on his messenger Telegram, among them: terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, and more.
If true, and the entire list of charges is brought one way or another, he could face up to 20 years in prison, according to some estimates.
Reaction to the Arrest of Pavel Durov
Some notable figures have already commented officially, for example, Tucker Carlson said:
“Pavel Durov sits in a French jail tonight, a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies.”
By the way, at their interview, Pavel Durov said something that sounds even more serious in the context of today’s possible events:
“The world is becoming less amenable. Governments are becoming less tolerant of privacy. That’s clearly the trend because they have more technological power.”
Candace Owens also commented:
“Do you understand the severity of what is happening yet? Pavel Durov truly believes in free speech and created a platform the deep state doesn’t have access to, so now they have arrested him.”
Conclusion
It is not yet possible to state exactly what is going on and what is possibly facing him.
Moreover, not everyone agrees on how independent Telegram is and is sure that Pavel Durov gave Russia access to all the data.
Meanwhile, his Toncoin has experienced a significant drop of 13% and is now trading at $5.80.
Let’s not jump to conclusions and see where the investigation goes and how unbiased it will be.
After all, Pavel Durov, if he is telling the truth about his position and activities, really should be one of the most uncomfortable figures for a number of states.
