Telegram CEO Pavel Durov arrested in France due to alleged criminal activities on the app

tonight telegram CEO pavl durov in custody for alleged defenses related to his widely popular private messaging in social media app the 39-year-old billionaire dubbed Russia's Mark Zuckerberg arrested shortly after landing in France Saturday night the Paris prosecutor's office says the arrest is part of a larger investigation related to complicity in illegal transactions and possessing and distributing child pornography telegram which the company says is used by more than 900 million people is popular for its group chat feature and for the ability to follow and comment on individual channels or accounts but the app's focus on Free

Speech has also made it an appealing online home for Fringe groups it's where the FBI says the far right group The Proud boys organize themselves in the leadup to the January six attack on the capital and where the Islamic state has coordinated and spread propaganda specific charges against durov are still unclear but the arrest has sparked outrage from prominent figures including Elon Musk who wrote ashree pavl on X his platform where he's adopted a similar Free Speech approach US tech companies like Google generally comply with lawful court orders from other nations requesting user data of

people suspected of crimes something durov a dual French and UAE citizen who runs telegram out of Dubai usually ignores for me my number one priority in life is my freedom even admitting in a rare interview with right-wing media personality Tucker Carlson it's not that we don't care but we think it's important to uh have this platform that is neutral to all voices in Russia where the messaging app is extremely popular some locals like this man saying they believe durov was arrested for his support of free speech president Emanuel macron quickly responding to the backlash saying

the arrest was not politically motivated adding in part quote France is more than anything attached to freedom of expression and communication Innovation and Entrepreneurship it will remain so in a statement telegram saying durov has nothing to hide and that it is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform and Megan fizgerald joins us now from London so Megan what's next for DAV do we know when he'll appear in court you know Morgan it's a good question look this is a very detailed and and thorough investigation here that's

been ongoing since the beginning of July uh it focuses on a person who's not been named so it's unclear if durov will even be charged uh it's also important to note here it focuses on something else I want to read for you it says improper use of cryptography and failure to allow authorized law enforcement interception now police have the authority to keep him until Wednesday Morgan thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media