Telegram’s Durov Finally Allowed To Leave France, But Only Temporarily

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has finally been allowed to leave France after his shock arrest and detention by French authorities at Le Bourget airport outside Paris back in August 2024.

“He departed France this morning,” a source close to his case told AFP, while emphasizing Durov is traveling with authorities’ permission. He is reportedly going to Dubai, where he maintains citizenship and a residence (he became a UAE citizen in 2021). The UAE government has been closely monitoring his case.

A judge had authorized the 40-year old billionaire and Telegram CEO to leave France for “several weeks.” Thus his exit from France appears merely temporary.

Authorities has alleged that the messaging platform he oversees enabled organized crime and other criminal content, such as trafficking and abusive images.

In August he had been briefly detained and questioned, as French officials railed against Telegram’s not conforming to censorship efforts and requests for data related to criminal investigations. He was later released on a five-million-euro ($5.6 million) bail, and ordered not to leave France.

In September, shortly after Durov’s arrest, Telegram revised its privacy guidelines, stating it would provide user data, including IP addresses and phone numbers, to law enforcement upon receiving valid legal orders. 

Prior to this, the company had maintained a policy of only sharing data for terrorism-related investigations, asserting that it had never actually shared any user information under those circumstances.

In January he told prosecutors he “realized the seriousness of all the allegations” and Telegram has made greater efforts to crack down on criminality on its platform.

That same month, the popular social network and messaging application known for its stringent privacy policies had sharply increased its cooperation with US authorities.

Critics have characterized the arrest of Durov as part of the drive of governments to gain access to and monitor innocent users’ private communications and data:

The arrest of @Durov is an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association. I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world.

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) August 25, 2024

For most of 2024, Telegram’s data-sharing with US law enforcement was minimal, fulfilling only 14 requests which impacted 108 users by the end of September. However, the final quarter of the year saw an exponential increase – from 108 affected users to 2,253.

Telegram had blasted the French government for going directly after its CEO, instead of the more normative measure of bringing punitive actions against the company. The arrest after getting off his private jet was somewhat unprecedented when it comes to heads of popular internet and tech companies.