Russia must demand the immediate release of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who has been detained in France, Deputy Speaker of the Russian State Duma Vladislav Davankov has said.
According to French media, the 39-year-old dual Russian-French national was detained on Saturday at Paris-Le Bourget airport. The French authorities reportedly believe that lax moderation rules and encryption technology had allowed the widespread use of Telegram messenger by criminals.
Writing on Telegram in the early hours of Sunday, Davankov defended Durov’s record. “Hardly anyone else has done more for the development of digital services in Russia and the world,” he argued.
“We need to get him out of there. I have urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to appeal to the French authorities to release Pavel Durov from custody,” the politician wrote on Telegram. “His arrest could be politically motivated and used to gain access to the personal information of Telegram users. We cannot allow this.”
If Paris refuses to release Durov, “everything must be done to transport him to the UAE or Russia – if he agrees, of course,” the politician said.
He dismissed the allegations against Durov, saying that illicit activity can be found on all messaging platforms. “But nobody arrests or jails their owners. And it shouldn’t happen this time.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday that the Russian Embassy in Paris was working on a response to the situation with Durov.
Durov was born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) in 1984. In 2006, he founded the social media platform VK, often described as ‘Russia’s Facebook.’ In 2013, he launched Telegram, which currently has more than 950 million monthly active users.
Durov left Russia in the mid-2010s and has mostly lived in the UAE. He became a French national in 2021.