Telegram app CEO is said to be detained in France

French authorities on Saturday arrested Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and chief executive of the online communications platform Telegram, on charges of spreading illicit material on the messaging app, according to French news reports.

Durov, a Russian-born French and Emirati entrepreneur, was traveling on his private jet from Azerbaijan when he was detained at Le Bourget airport near Paris. Seeking Alpha couldn’t immediately confirm the arrest.

The Russian Embassy in France on Sunday said in a statement that it had asked the French authorities for more information about the arrest.

Telegram has more than 900 million users worldwide and for years has been scrutinized by law enforcement agencies worldwide because terrorist groups, narcotics smugglers, arms dealers and extremist groups have used the app for encrypted communications.

Countries including those in the European Union have stepped up pressure on social-media companies as part of their efforts against extremism and disinformation.

Durov’s net worth was estimated by Bloomberg at more than $9 billion.

The 39-year-old entrepreneur has mostly avoided public scrutiny, unlike executives of other digital platforms such as Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META), Elon Musk of X, Shou Chew of TikTok (BDNCE) and Sundar Pichai of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG).