The founder of Telegram, a social media app favored by extremist groups and right-wing instigators to coordinate and promote their agendas, was arrested at an airport in France on various charges including drug trafficking, fraud and the distribution of illegal materials, the Eastern European outlet Nexta reports.
Russian-born Pavel Durov was arrested at Le Bourget airport after he arrived on a private flight from Azerbaijan. French authorities claim Telegram’s features including creating untraceable phone numbers, its lack of moderation, and its refusal to notify law enforcement authorities of illegal activity on the platform amount to aiding and abetting the crimes.