The Russian-born tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov has based wildly standard social networks in addition to a cryptocurrency, accumulated a multibillion greenback fortune and locked horns with government in Russia and world wide.Nonetheless a couple of months shy of his fortieth birthday, the person as soon as nicknamed the “Russian Zuckerberg” after the Fb founder Mark Zuckerberg now reveals himself underneath arrest in France after being detained at a Paris airport this weekend.The St Petersburg local shot to repute in Russia in his 20s after founding the VKontakte (VK) social community, which catered to the wishes of Russian-language customers and outgunned Fb during the previous USSR.After disputes with the Russian government and possession battles, he bought out of VKontakte and based a brand new messaging provider referred to as Telegram, which hastily won traction however proved debatable with critics condemning an alleged loss of regulate on excessive content material.As those dramas raged, Durov remained a mercurial and now and then mysterious determine, hardly giving interviews and proscribing himself to once in a while enigmatic declarations on Telegram.A self-avowed libertarian, Durov has championed confidentiality on the web and encryption in messaging.He has defiantly refused to permit the moderation of messages on Telegram, which allows customers to submit video, footage and feedback on “channels” that may be adopted through any person.Durov, 39, used to be centered in France through a warrant over offences speculated to were carried out on Telegram, starting from fraud to drug trafficking, cyberbullying and organised crime, together with selling terrorism and fraud.Investigations were entrusted to the cyber unit of the French gendarmerie and the nationwide anti-fraud place of work. He used to be nonetheless in police custody on Sunday, in step with two assets on the subject of the case. He has no longer been charged with any offence.In 2006, having graduated from the College of St Petersburg, Durov introduced VK, attracting customers even whilst its founder remained a shadowy determine.In a stunt conventional of his unpredictable behaviour, Durov in 2012 showered high-denomination notes on pedestrians from VK’s headquarters on best of a ancient bookshop on St Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt.All the way through the anti-Putin protests that gripped Russia in early 2012, he additionally emerged as a hero of the liberal opposition through refusing to near down teams at the web site devoted to setting up protest marches.Supporters position paper planes – the Telegram brand – outdoor the French embassy in central Moscow, in fortify of Pavel Durov on the weekend. {Photograph}: Andrei Davankov/AFP/Getty ImagesBut after operating into bother with the Kremlin for refusing at hand over the non-public knowledge of customers to the Russian safety services and products (FSB), he bought his stake within the corporate and left Russia in 2014.Durov resigned from VK with a standard flourish, posting an image of dolphins and the slogan “So Lengthy and Thank you for The entire Fish”, a name within the Hitchhiker’s Information to the Galaxy science fiction collection.He evolved Telegram along with his brother Nikolai whilst travelling from nation to nation and introduced the provider in 2013.He settled in Dubai and acquired citizenship of the Caribbean island archipelago of Saint Kitts and Nevis, then, in August 2021, gained French nationality after a low-profile process about which Paris stays extremely discreet.In the meantime, Telegram loved stratospheric luck, presenting itself as a champion of particular person freedoms, refusing “censorship” and protective the confidentiality of its customers.The combo of usability and privateness made the app well-liked by pro-democracy protesters world wide, from Hong Kong and Iran to Belarus and Russia.This rankled with government, particularly in his house nation and, in 2018, a Moscow courtroom ordered the blockading of the provider. However the imposition of the measure used to be shambolic and 3 days later, protesters bombarded the FSB headquarters with paper planes, the emblem of Telegram.Since then, Russia has deserted its efforts to dam Telegram and the messaging provider is utilized by the Russian govt and the opposition, with some channels boasting a number of hundred thousand subscribers.Telegram additionally performs a key function in Russia’s conflict in opposition to Ukraine, documented through bloggers from all sides who submit their analyses and movies of the preventing.Professional-Moscow channels run through “Z-bloggers” who again the conflict have proved massively influential and are once in a while crucial of Russian army technique.Durov eschews conventional media interviews however in April sat down with the ultra-conservative US journalist Tucker Carlson for an in depth dialogue.“[People] love the independence. In addition they love the privateness, the liberty, [there are] numerous explanation why someone would transfer to Telegram,” Durov instructed Carlson.Durov may be no longer shy of posting messages on his personal Telegram channel, claiming to guide a solitary existence, abstaining from meat, alcohol or even espresso. All the time wearing black, he cultivates a resemblance to the actor Keanu Reeves within the movie Matrix.In July, he boasted of being the organic father of greater than 100 kids due to his sperm donations in a dozen international locations, describing this as a “civic accountability” in an perspective to parenting that echoes that of a fellow tech tycoon, the X and Tesla leader, Elon Musk.In step with Forbes mag’s newest estimate, Durov’s fortune is $15.5bn (£11.7bn). However the price of toncoin, the cryptocurrency he created, has plummeted through greater than 15% because the announcement of his arrest.Telegram has lengthy been within the attractions of Eu judicial government over allegations it spreads conspiracy theories, and shared requires homicide. Durov, alternatively, insists that he responds to each request to take away content material calling for violence or homicide.Agence France-Presse contributed to this document
