Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of messaging app Telegram, has been arrested in France as part of an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, French prosecutors said on Monday.
French President Emmanuel Macron, making the first official confirmation of the arrest since Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, said there was no political motive in the arrest despite many false comments online. He added that France remains deeply committed to lawful free speech.
"The arrest of the Telegram president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation," Macron wrote on social media platform X. "This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide."
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