What Is Telegram, and Why Was Its CEO Arrested In Paris?
Is Pavel Durov the Next Julian Assange?
I don't use Telegram often, but I was surprised to learn that its Russian founder, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France this week.
He is accused of failing to moderate illegal child abuse and drug activity on the platform. If you're unfamiliar with Telegram, it's not widely used in the United States but very popular worldwide. The irony of this arrest is that he hasn't been charged yet.
The most interesting thing about this arrest is the story about child exploitation facilitated by the platforms. The French government could have chosen from thousands of different crimes, but they chose this one. Why? Is Durov a martyr of free speech, or is he complicit in some of these crimes? I suspect there is much more information that we don’t know yet.
Forbes reports that Telegram has 900 million active users worldwide, and Durov's network exceeds 15 billion. Why the arrest is happening now?
Who is Pavel Durov?
Durov was born in Leningrad in 1984. Four years later, his family moved to Italy. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, they moved back to Russia, where his father taught English and Roman Literature at Petersburg State University.
