Durov was arrested upon arrival at Le Bourget airport north of Paris.
The investigation into Durov and Telegram is coordinated by OFMIN.
French authorities shocked the world by arresting Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of encrypted messaging platform Telegram! The action was closely related to a search warrant for alleged violations of the platform.
Le Monde and other French media reported that Durov was detained when his private plane arrived at Le Bourget airport north of Paris after taking off from Azerbaijan.
After the news came out, investigators quickly confirmed the situation. Bloomberg further disclosed that Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also confirmed the shocking news on Telegram.
Alleged lack of content control
Behind the arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov by French authorities, the search request was made by France’s L’Office Mineurs (OFMIN), the agency responsible for monitoring crimes against children.
The preliminary investigation involves not only child crimes but also organized crime, cyberbullying, drug trafficking and fraud, with Telegram's lack of content control believed to be at the heart of the investigation.
Durov's case is being led by OFMIN and is scheduled to go to trial on August 25. Reports indicate that the charges are serious and Durov could face up to twenty years in prison.
Despite the shocking news that shook the market, Telegram’s integrated third-party blockchain protocol, Open Network (TON), remained operational in the hours following Durov’s arrest. The TON community rallied behind Durov and supported him through the ordeal via an official post on the X account.
Meanwhile, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk posted a video interview with Durov and independent journalist Tucker Carlson on social Twitter, using the hashtag#FreePavelto express support for Durov.
However, the market reacted violently to the incident, with Toncoin (TON) plummeting by about 16% in the past 24 hours and currently trading at $5.69, showing investors’ concerns about the incident.
Okay, that’s all the information for this issue for now.
