Who Is Pavel Durov, The Man Who Was Arrested At French Airport? (image:instagram.com/durov)

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, was arrested in Paris over the weekend due to allegations that his platform is being used for illegal activities, including drug trafficking and the distribution of child sexual abuse material.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov was travelling from Azerbaijan to France when the arrest occurred, allegedly linked to an ongoing preliminary police investigation in France. French authorities have arrested the telegram app’s CEO Pavel Durov, the 39-year-old entrepreneur in Paris. As per the French media reports, the founder of the messaging app Durov was detained when he arrived in his private jet at Le Bourget Airport. The arrest was made under a warrant linked to certain offences to the Telegram platform but the authorities haven’t revealed the nature of the case yet.

In 2013, durov co-founded telegram with his brother Nikolai , focusing on secure and private messaging . Telegram gained widespread adoption globally , especially among those concerned about date privacy and security.

Telegram, a messaging app renowned for its robust security and privacy features, has come under scrutiny from law enforcement and regulators due to its anonymity and encryption protocols. With over 500 million active users, the platform’s founder, Durov, faces mounting pressure to cooperate with government requests for user data and implement measures to prevent illicit activities, sparking debates on privacy and security.

Pavel Durov is a Russian entrepreneur and programmer, best known as the founder of the popular social media platform VKontakte (VK) and the messaging app Telegram. Born on October 10, 1984, in Leningrad, Soviet Union , Durov developed an interest in computer programming at a young age.

Under durov’s leadership, vkontakte’s user base grew from 1 million in 2006 to over 500 million in 2014, making it one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world. Telegrams user base grew from 100 million in 2014 to over 500 million in 2020, with a presence in over 190 countries. Telegram’s revenue grew significantly, with estimates suggesting $1.5 billion in revenue in 2020, primarily through advertising and premium services .

(Nazwin Basheer has produced this article as part of a Timeline Internship Programme)