DUBAI/PARIS: The UAE said on Tuesday it had requested consular services for Telegram’s Pavel Durov after the Dubai-based tech boss was arrested in France over alleged failings to curb criminality on the app.

Durov, who has French as well as Russian nationality, was arrested near Paris over the weekend as part of an investigation into crimes related to images of child sex abuse, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, French prosecutors said on Monday.

“The UAE is closely following the case of its citizen Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, who was arrested by the French authorities in Paris-Le Bourget Airport,” the Gulf state’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

“The UAE has submitted a request to the Government of the French Republic to provide him with all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner,” it added. Durov, the 39-year-old billionaire founder of the messaging platform, was arrested at the Paris airport late on Saturday.

Russia-France ties hit new low after Pavel Durov’s arrest

He is accused of failing to curb the spread of illegal content on Telegram, which has more than 900 million users. The company has rejected the accusations. French President Emmanuel Macron denied there was a political aspect to Durov’s arrest as the internet mogul spent a second day in French custody. Late Monday, French authorities again extended his initial detention for questioning until Wednesday, according to a source close to the investigation.

Durov set up Telegram after leaving Russia a decade ago, and Forbes magazine estimates his current fortune at $15.5 billion. He holds a French passport in addition to Russian nationality. In its press information, Telegram says its founder has “dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France”. Dubai-headquartered Telegram said on Sunday that “Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe”. “Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards,” it added. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”

Relations between Moscow and Paris have reached a nadir following the arrest of Russian-born Telegram boss Pavel Durov. His arrest has plunged Moscow-Paris ties to their lowest level, Lavrov said on Tuesday, capping months of deteriorating relations between the two nations.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday Moscow had received no information from France about why he was detained, and “we do not know concretely what Durov is accused of”.

Peskov told reporters on a conference call on Tuesday that Russia was ready to provide Durov with all necessary assistance given his Russian citizenship, but that his French citizenship complicated the situation. “The charges are very serious indeed,” said Peskov. “They require a no less serious basis of evidence. Otherwise they will be a direct attempt to limit freedom of communication.”

Durov’s arrest has sparked a debate about the limits of free speech online, with X-owner Elon Musk saying the right to expression in Europe was under attack. It also underlines a movement by governments around the world to take a tougher line on policing illegal activity that flourishes on some platforms.

Russia has previously tried, and failed, to block Telegram and fined the company several times for failing to delete what it deemed illegal content.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2024