Six things you need to know about Pavel Durov and Telegram
Did you know that Telegram boss Pavel Durov reportedly has two legal cases pending in Switzerland as well as over 100 biological children? SWI swissinfo.ch presents six things you need to know about the founder and CEO of the social media channel Telegram.
Pavel Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire who founded Telegram, was detained at Le Bourget airport, outside Paris, on August 24, 2024.
Four days later, he was released on a €5 million (CHF4.7 million) bail with restrictions that include not leaving France and reporting to the police twice a week.
He faces chargesExternal link related to organised crime, including failure to cooperate with authorities, and involvement in the distribution of drugs and child pornography. His case could set a precedent on how social media platforms and their executives are held accountable for data they store or transmit.
1. Durov has two lawsuits pending in Switzerland
On August 28, Forbes magazine reported that Irina Bolgar, a 44-year-old lawyer, External linkhad filed a lawsuit in Geneva in March 2023 against Durov, with whom she has three children. Bolgar, a Russian citizen from St. Petersburg lives in Switzerland. The complaint alleges that Durov used physical violence against one of their children.
Prior to this, Bolgar accused Durov of ceasing to pay her monthly child support of €150,000, as indicated in the court documents seen by Forbes.
In another report, Forbes reported that the couple met in 2012 and were never married.
Citing court documents, the US media organisation said Durov is accused of using violence against his younger son, born in 2017. The incidents reportedly occurred between 2021 and 2022, resulting in injuries, including a concussion.
In June 2024, the children’s mother filed another suit for child support. Bolgar claims that Durov stopped seeing their children and paying child support from September 2022.
Furthermore, in April 2023, Bolgar also filed a petition for sole custody of the children. In May of that year, the court suspended Durov’s parental rights. He did not contest this decision, Forbes reported.
2. Telegram was financed by Russian funds
Telegram was founded in 2013 in Russia; until 2017 the social media channel was self-funded by Durov. In 2018, he launched the blockchain platform Telegram Open Network (TON), which sold the cryptocurrency Gram, to attract funds to pay for his servers. In total, Durov raised around $1.8 billion.
Among the investors were entities linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former ministers, Mikhail Abyzov, Russian businessman Said Gutseriev, and even a former Wirecard executive, Jan Marsalek, who is reportedly hiding in Russia, according to “Important Stories”, a Russian investigative online media. Wirecard was an insolvent German payment processor and financial services provider.
In September 2024 “Important Stories” revealedExternal link that the Russian commodities company Stiron B.V. had also invested around €10 million in Telegram in 2018. That was the average amount invested by other backers in the project.
3. The French state accuses Telegram of twelve criminal charges
Following Durov’s detention, the Paris prosecutor’s office issued a press release on August 26External link, 2024, stating that Durov had been detained as part of a criminal investigation involving unidentified individuals; he faces twelve charges. The allegations include failure to provide information requested by authorities, as well as complicity in the distribution of pornography, drugs, and hacking tools.
The Wall Street JournalExternal link reported that French intelligence services had conducted a joint operation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s intelligence agencies in 2017 during which Durov’s iPhone was hacked. The operation, named “Purple Music”, was prompted by French concerns that the Islamic State (ISIS) was using the app to recruit militants and plan attacks.
Last September, the online media Politico reported that the case against Telegram’s founder began following a covert police operation, in which an undercover agent using a pseudonym engaged with a suspected sexual predator on TelegramExternal link. A legal document seen by Politico revealed that the investigation started with the National Office for the Protection of Minors (OFMIN), a French police unit formed in 2023. Investigators found links to Telegram groups discussing sexualised violence.
During a covert operation, an undercover agent spoke with a suspect who admitted to contacting underage girls and committing rape.
When Telegram refused to reveal the suspect’s identity, OFMIN launched a preliminary investigation into Pavel and Nikolai Durov, his brother, on February 8, 2024, at the request of the Paris prosecutor’s office. Pavel Durov’s older brother played a key role in the creation of the Telegram messenger. He was the mastermind behind the concept of the messenger’s own cryptocurrency and blockchain platform.
Durov is now awaiting trial for which no date has been set.
4. Durov has met two heads of states
French President Emmanuel Macron initially met Durov in 2018 when the Telegram boss asked for French citizenship. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2018 that at the time Macron suggested moving Telegram’s headquarters to Paris, but Durov declined the offer.
After the Telegram CEO landed in Le Bourget, French media reported that Durov allegedly claimed he had travelled to France to meet Macron. The French President denied this.
Commenting on Durov’s arrest in France, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the two men had met once “many years ago”. Durov left Russia in 2014 because the FSB state security service, the main successor to the KGB, had demanded the social network reveal data on users involved in pro-Euromaidan protests which rocked Ukraine in 2013. They were sparked by the president’s decision to go against parliament and refuse to sign an agreement with the European Union.
In a farewell message on social media in 2014, Durov said the lack of an independent justice system stopped him from returning to Russia. He hasn’t been back since.
5. The case will impact future regulation of social media platforms
By holding an owner responsible for content on its platform, Durov’s arrest sets a precedent for how media platforms and their executives are held liable for data stocked on their platforms.
“Social media administrators, like any other citizens, are required to comply with existing laws and fulfil all legitimate demands from authorities, including court orders,” explains Swiss lawyer Bogdan Prensilevich, who specialises in new technologies, internet law and cryptocurrencies.
He says France’s undercover investigations conformed with its law. “When law enforcement has serious reasons to believe that a crime is being planned or committed using a phone, they are authorised to issue a wiretap order to the telecom company, which the company is obligated to comply with. If the company refuses to execute such an order, for example, citing freedom of speech, it will undoubtedly face penalties for not complying with legal requirements from the prosecution,” says Prensilevich, who works at the Swiss law firm Lexpro.
Kamalia Mehtiyeva, a specialist in international judicial cooperation and professor of law at Université Paris-Est Créteil, says the case poses two important questions: how to prove the allegations and how to prove they are imputable to a company or its CEO.
“The answers to these questions in Durov’s case may become a gamechanger in the law of digital platforms,” Mehtiyeva told SWI swissinfo.ch.
Following Durov’s arrest, his company issued a statement insisting that Telegram complies with EU laws,External link including the Digital Services Act (DSA), and that its moderation practices meet industry standards and are continuously improving.
“Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, is transparent and frequently travels across Europe, making it impossible to accuse the platform or its owner of abuse,” it declared.
6. Durov has more than 100 biological children
In 2014, Russian media reported that Durov had two children born in 2009 and 2010.
Bolgar, his former partner who now lives in Switzerland, asked the US media company Forbes to update its billionaire rankings to reflect that the number of Durov’s children include her three children.
Following the request, Durov announced on his Telegram channel that, due to his involvement in a sperm donation programme, he is now the biological father of over 100 children.
Edited by Virginie Mangin
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