Pavel Durov, the Russian billionaire founder of the Telegram social messaging app, has been arrested in France shortly after flying in on his private jet from Azerbaijan.
No official reason has been given for his arrest on Saturday night in Paris although French media said it was linked to Telegram, the unfiltered, mainly Russian-language social media platform that has become the conduit for news and videos on the war in Ukraine.
TF1 and BFM, French TV channels, quoted unnamed sources saying that the investigation was focused on “a lack of moderators” on Telegram that allowed “criminal activity”.
It is unclear why Mr Durov had been visiting Azerbaijan. Vladimir Putin also visited Azerbaijan for a meeting with Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani president, this week.
Telegram has about one billion registered users and is ranked as one of the biggest social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat. It is particularly influential in the Russian-speaking world.
Kremlin propagandists and Russian socialites criticised the arrest of Mr Durov calling it a Nato plot and a threat to free speech.
“Russian army troops actively use Telegram in battles,” said Sergei Markov, a former Kremlin speech writer. “Therefore, Durov’s arrest is possibly an attempt by the French and Nato special services to establish control over the Russian army’s communications and control system in the north-east military district.”