Pavel Durov, detained in France, has nothing to hide, says Telegram

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram who was arrested in Paris, has nothing to hide, it is absurd to hold an owner responsible for abuse of the messaging and social media platform, Telegram said in a statement.

Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire cast as "Russia's Mark Zuckerberg", was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris shortly after landing on a private jet late on Saturday from Azerbaijan.

The arrest of the Telegram CEO prompted a warning from Moscow to Paris that he should be accorded his rights, and criticism from X owner Elon Musk who said that free speech in Europe was under attack.

Though there has been no official French comment on the arrest, French news channel franceinfo said that Durov was still in custody on Monday and that he could remain in custody for up to four days.

Telegram, in a short statement released after midnight Paris time, gave no details of the arrest but said the Dubai-based company abided by European Union laws and its moderation was "within industry standards and constantly improving".

"Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe," Telegram said. "It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform."

"We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all."

Durov, who has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was arrested as part of a preliminary police investigation into allegedly allowing a wide range of crimes due to a lack of moderators on Telegram and a lack of cooperation with police, a French police source said.

A cybersecurity gendarmerie unit and France's national anti-fraud police unit are leading the investigation, the source said, adding that the investigative judge was specialised in organised crime.

Asked about his arrest, the Kremlin on Monday said it had yet to see any official French accusations against Durov.

"We do not yet know what exactly Durov is accused of," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing.

"With what exactly are they trying to incriminate Durov? Without (knowing), it would probably be wrong to make any statements," Peskov said.

Telegram was founded by Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he has sold.

The encrypted application, with close to 1 billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and WeChat.

Durov, who was born in Soviet Leningrad and graduated from St Petersburg State University, lists his political views as "libertarian" and says he was inspired by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Russian lawmaker Maria Butina, who spent 15 months in US prison for acting as an unregistered Russian agent, said Durov "is a political prisoner - a victim of a witch-hunt by the West".