Who is Pavel Durov? Russian billionaire Telegram CEO arrested in France

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born billionaire CEO of the social media messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France in connection with an "ongoing judicial investigation," French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday.

Durov, 39, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday evening.

Durov is accused of allegedly being passive with regard to cyber and financial crimes being committed on the Telegram platform and is facing 12 charges, according to the Paris Prosecutor's Office.

The charges are related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, prosecutors announced Monday.

In his statement, Macron maintained that Durov's arrest was "not political," saying, "France is more than anything attached to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation and to the spirit of enterprise. It will remain so."

What is Telegram?

Telegram is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world, with approximately 800 million active users and a large user base in Russia and Ukraine.

Launched in 2013, Telegram was designed to address growing concerns about digital privacy and censorship. Unlike many messaging apps of the time, Telegram was built with a focus on security, offering end-to-end encryption and features that prioritized user privacy.

The rise of the app's popularity was meteoric, making Durov among the wealthiest people in the world. He is estimated to have a net worth of approximately $15.5 billion, according to Forbes.

The app distinguished itself from competitors such as Facebook Messenger, WeChat and WhatsApp with its commitment to free speech and resistance to government censorship.

The app has positioned itself as a refuge for activists and journalists. Its features include self-destructing messages, secret chats and robust channel functionalities.

Additionally, Telegram offers a platform for larger messaging groups, allowing 200,000 users to be added to a chat.

Because of the large group sizes, Telegram has been criticized for hosting far-right and extremist groups. Most recently, the U.K. government denounced Telegram for its role in extremist groups organizing riots across the country in July.

Who is Pavel Durov?

Born in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1984, Durov began his foray into technology entrepreneurship in 2006, founding the Russian social network VKontakte (VK).

Likened to Facebook, VK quickly gained traction among Russian-speaking users, offering a platform for social interaction, content sharing and networking.

However, the platform's success attracted scrutiny from the Russian government, and Durov faced increasing pressure to comply with government requests for user data.

In 2014, Durov was forced to leave VK after refusing to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on the platform.

He reportedly refused to block late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s page on the platform.

After leaving his position at VK, Durov left Russia and moved to Dubai, where he runs Telegram, which was founded a year prior in 2013.

Frequently traveling to Europe from the United Arab Emirates, Durov was granted citizenship in France in 2021.

Response to Durov's arrest

In the wake of Durov's arrest over the weekend, Elon Musk posted #FreePavel on X, sharing a clip of the Telegram founder's previous interview with Tucker Carlson.

U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden called Durov's arrest "an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association" in a post on X.

"I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world," Snowden wrote.

ABC News' Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.