Fact Checked by 
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov is still being held by authorities in France after his detention was extended on Sunday.
The 39-year-old tech billionaire who holds dual Russian and United Arab Emirates citizenship, was apprehended late on Saturday night as he entered Bourget airport, near Paris, following a flight from Azerbaijan.
Durov has been detained over alleged offenses relating to his Telegram app. French law enforcement cited a lack of moderation on the platform and a failure to cooperate with police effectively, and criminal enterprises were left to roam on the instant messaging site.
In a further blow to Telegram, its Toncoin cryptocurrency used through The Open Network blockchain has shed around $2.7 billion of its market value, after Durov was arrested.
The slide of more than 20% reflects the uncertainty around the situation, and what the outcome will be for Telegram.
There has been plenty of reaction to the high-profile detention of the company founder and CEO, who is occasionally referred to as ‘Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg.’
X supremo Elon Musk posted on his social media platform to drum up support for his counterpart, while in his native country, a Russian official has described Durov as “a political prisoner – a victim of a witch-hunt by the West”.
Telegram targeted by Russia and the US
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev lamented the entrepreneur’s decision to flee Russia in 2014, fueled by a belief that he would not have to engage with law authorities in foreign states. “He miscalculated”, stated Medvedev.
The Russian embassy in France has also demanded consular access to Durov.
He is a flamboyant figure, who likes to share his lifestyle and honed physique on Instagram. His wealth is estimated by Forbes at $15.5b, ranking him as the 120th richest person in the world.
Durov now lives in Dubai, UAE, where Telegram is also based. He decided to settle in the “neutral” country, after previous stints in Lon, Berlin, Singapore, and San Francisco.
That followed his exit from Russia, where he was embroiled in a dispute with authorities after declining to close opposition groups on his VK social media platform, which he later sold.
Russia also targeted Telegram in 2018, aiming to acquire encryption data, but these attempts were thwarted by Durov and his team. He also claimed to receive significant attention from US agencies, recalling a previous attempt to recruit one of his engineers to enable backdoor access into the messenger service.
The app has flourished with extended growth through the onset of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with protagonists and activists on both sides using the platform as a vital communication tool.
Durov told US media figure Tucker Carlson earlier this year that Telegram was on its way to securing one billion active users by the end of this year, with the app setting itself apart from competitors due to its privacy credentials.
Image credit: Via Ideogram
