Telegram founder returns to Dubai as French inquiry continues

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder and CEO of Telegram, has said that he has returned to Dubai after being allowed to leave France, where he was under investigation.

Durov was arrested at an airport near Paris last August and subsequently placed under formal investigation over criminal activity on the messaging app he founded, with a ban on leaving France.

Durov said he had spent several months in France “due to an investigation related to the activity of criminals on Telegram. The process is ongoing, but it feels great to be home.”

“I want to thank the investigative judges for letting this happen, as well as my lawyers and team for their relentless efforts in demonstrating that, when it comes to moderation, cooperation, and fighting crime, for years Telegram not only met but exceeded its legal obligations,” he said.

Durov’s arrest at Le Bourget airport was the first time the founder of a social media company was arrested over content on his platform. With more than 900 million active users, Telegram is one of top messaging apps in the world.

After days of questioning after his arrest, he was charged with several counts of failing to curb extremist and terrorist content and released on €5m (£4.2m) bail.

Sources told AFP he had left France at the weekend with the authorities’ permission. One said an investigating judge had authorised the entrepreneur to leave France for “several weeks”.

The Russian-born Durov holds Russian, French and United Arab Emirates passports.