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Telegram app CEO Pavel Durov 'arrested in France'

TV stations TF1 and BFM say the French investigation is focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.

La rédaction de Mediapart

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Pavel Durov, billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app was arrested at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unnamed sources, reports Yahoo! News.

Durov was travelling aboard his private jet, TF1 said on its website, adding he had been targeted by an arrest warrant in France as part of a preliminary police investigation.

TF1 and BFM both said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators on Telegram, and that police considered that this situation allowed criminal activity to go on undeterred on the messaging app.

Telegram did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The French interior ministry and police had no comment.

Read more of this report from Yahoo! News.