French authorities arrested Telegram founder Pavel Durov as part of a larger investigation related to charges of illegal transactions and possessing and distributing pornographic images of minors, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Monday.
That investigation began on July 8, focusing on a person who is still unnamed, the office said in a press release. It remains unclear if Durov will be charged. Police have the authority to hold him until Wednesday.
Durov, a wealthy tech mogul, founded and is the sole owner of Telegram, which functions as both a messaging and news app.
One of only a few popular apps without strong ties to either the United States or China, Telegram has long positioned itself as being extremely reluctant to moderate most content, including many scams and certain types of criminal behavior, and it is known for offering little cooperation with government requests.
In broadcast channels, Telegram says that it will enforce rules against illegal content, but on its website, Telegram says it does not apply monitoring to any type of messaging between users.
Telegram has said the company has moderated child abuse content since the app was created, and routinely closes channels devoted to child sexual abuse material.
