Russian billionaire and Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been released from jail in France after being arrested at Paris’s Bourget Airport on Saturday.
After his release from police custody, he 39-year-old was transferred to a court in Paris to face “initial questioning and possible indictment” according to prosecutors.
As Gript previously reported, Durov was arrested after his jet landed in Paris in relation to allegations that his platform was complicit in aiding fraudulent operations, drug traffickers and people spreading child pornography.
This sparked international concern over freedom of speech as well as raising questions on whether owners are responsible for the content shared on their platforms.
Durov is estimated to be worth $9.15 billion, according to Bloomberg, and is widely reported to be the biological father of 100 children.
As Gript’s Jason Osbourne previously reported, his arrest in France is not the first time Durov’s censorship-free vision of social media has brought him into conflict with government forces.
In 2014, he left his native Russia after Kremlin-linked owners took issue with the management of another social media venture of his, VKontakte (VK). On that occasion, Durov reportedly refused to comply with demands to censor opposition groups, a move which saw him leave VK behind in order to focus on Telegram, which he founded with his brother Nikolai in 2013.
Telegram is listed alongside Facebook, Instagram, X and WhatsApp as one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, and boasts an encrypted messaging system that has boosted its popularity among those critical of perceived free-speech infringements.
You can read the full report here.