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08/24/2024

Breaking: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France

Reports of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's arrest in France are spreading across social media and mainstream news outlets, though as of now there has been no official confirmation. According to unverified reports, Durov was arrested when his plane landed at Le Bourget Airport near Paris. He is reportedly facing a range of serious charges including terrorism, trafficking, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, and other offenses. TF1, a French commercial television network

Breaking: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France

Reports of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's arrest in France are spreading across social media and mainstream news outlets, though as of now there has been no official confirmation.

According to unverified reports, Durov was arrested when his plane landed at Le Bourget Airport near Paris. He is reportedly facing a range of serious charges including terrorism, trafficking, conspiracy, fraud, money laundering, and other offenses.

TF1, a French commercial television network, cited anonymous sources saying "the search warrant is only valid if Pavel Durov is present on national territory."

Reports also indicate that Durov rarely travels within Europe and avoids countries "where Telegram is under surveillance."

Shortly after the unconfirmed arrest reports broke, TON — the cryptocurrency developed by Telegram — dropped more than 10%, falling from an August 24 high of $6.86 to $5.85 at the time of publication.

Toncoin (TON) is down 9.29% over the past week. Source: CoinMarketCap

A number of prominent public figures around the world have spoken out about the reports.

"Do you understand how serious this is? Pavel Durov genuinely believes in free speech and built a platform that the powers that be couldn't get to — so now they've arrested him," American commentator Candace Owens declared.

Related: Telegram-based Fantasy Football Platform Raises $1 Million in Seed Round

"Pavel Durov is sitting in a French prison tonight as a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth on behalf of governments and intelligence agencies," former Fox News host Tucker Carlson told his 13.6 million followers on X on August 24.

This came not long after Durov told Carlson on his podcast in April that he expected rising government surveillance to give rise to secure communication devices inspired by crypto hardware wallets.

"The world is becoming less comfortable. Governments are becoming less tolerant of privacy," Durov explained.

"That's clearly the trend because they have more technological power," he added.

After publication, TON released an official statement on X, though it offered no specific details about the investigation.

"In light of recent news involving Telegram founder Pavel Durov, we want to reassure everyone that the TON community remains strong and fully operational," TON said on X.

"As a community committed to free speech and decentralization, we stand firmly by Pavel during this difficult time," the statement added.