A blow to Telegram came from India
A blow to Telegram after France came from India. After Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was detained in Paris on Saturday, Indian officials have launched an investigation into Telegram that could lead to an all-ban on the app.
Within the scope of the investigation carried out by the Ministry of Interior and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technologies, Telegram is examined on the grounds that it is used for activities such as blackmail and gambling. Depending on the findings, it is stated that the application may be banned in the country.
Durov was detained by French police when he arrived at Le Bourget airport near Paris from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on his private jet. Durov's reason for detention was expressed as not taking adequate measures in the fight against criminal activities in practice. Telegram CEO's detention period has been extended to 96 hours today. Accordingly, Durov will be detained until August 28th.
Durov founded VKontakte, a Facebook-like platform in Russia in 2007, and was known as "Russia's Mark Zuckerberg" in his country. While VK became Russia's largest social media platform, state pressure on the platform was increasing day by day. In 2014, the Russian government called for the closure of opposition groups in the VK. Opposing this demand, Durov left Russia by selling his shares in VK.
Durov also launched Telegram in 2013. The messaging platform quickly gained popularity, reaching nearly 1 billion users as of today. Durov has citizenship in France and the United Arab Emirates.
