Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has been detained by authorities in France. The detention is related to a search warrant alleging violations of the encrypted messaging platform.
French media, together with Le Monde, reported that Durov was arrested upon arriving from Azerbaijan in his non-public jet at Le Bourget airport, located north of Paris. Le Monde’s report, referencing sources acquainted with the matter, confirmed Durov’s arrest.
Bloomberg additionally highlighted a Telegram submit by Maria Zakharova, a Russian Overseas Ministry spokesman who verified the arrest, including additional validity to the story concerning the occasion.
Telegram CEO Below Investigation By French Authorities
French authorities have launched a preliminary investigation into Telegram, the favored messaging platform, with L’Workplace Mineurs (OFMIN), the company chargeable for monitoring crimes in opposition to minors, issuing a search warrant.
AFP claims that the probe covers a spectrum of claimed misdeeds, together with fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, and arranged crime exercise enabled by the positioning. The examination outcomes from worries about Telegram’s insufficient content material management strategies.
Workplace of Monetary Market Integrity (OFMIN) is main the inquiry in opposition to Durov. In keeping with studies, Durov was supposed to look in court docket on Aug. 25. Given the gravity of the fees dedicated, accusations in opposition to him may end in a 20-year jail sentence.
The Impression On TON
Third-party blockchain system TON, built-in with Telegram, continues to function as normal regardless of Durov’s authorized objections. A latest touch upon TON’s official X account verified the protocol’s stability and underlined the encouraging response of its group below the present circumstances. Telegram has but to say the founder’s detention.
Assertion from the TON Group
Following the latest information associated to the Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov, we need to guarantee everybody that the TON group stays robust and absolutely operational.
As a group dedicated to freedom of speech and decentralization, we stand firmly…
— TON 💎 (@ton_blockchain) August 24, 2024
The platform added: “As a group dedicated to freedom of speech and decentralization, we stand firmly by Pavel throughout this difficult time. Pavel has been a devoted advocate for these values, and we consider his efforts to advertise an open and decentralized web will proceed to encourage hundreds of thousands.”
The Telegram-linked TON token skilled a pointy decline of as much as 17% following studies of Durov’s arrest in France. As of the newest replace, TON is buying and selling barely above $5.72, marking a 15% drop in just some hours.
Group Response On Telegram CEO’s Arrest
On Aug. 24, Tesla CEO and X platform proprietor Elon Musk voiced his assist for Durov by posting a previous interview between Durov and impartial journalist Tucker Carlson on his social media, accompanied by the hashtag #FreePavel.
#FreePavelpic.twitter.com/B7AcJWswMs
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024
In a latest video assertion, Durov praised Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, describing it as a helpful transfer for technological development and the promotion of free speech.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin answered an X submit by American entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan, addressing the problem additional. Whereas Buterin has publicly criticized Telegram’s encryption insurance policies previously, he voiced grave worries concerning the newest accusations in opposition to the positioning.
He underlined doable future penalties for the liberty of software program and communication in Europe and outlined the primary components as “very unhealthy and worrying.” Because the narrative began to take flight on social media, with Telegram trending on platform X, a number of eminent folks supplied their evaluation.
Amongst them, Robert Kennedy Jr., the American politician who suspended his presidential marketing campaign in August 2024, emphasised that Durov’s arrest underscored the crucial significance of safeguarding platforms devoted to free speech and privateness.
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