Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested By French Police – Will It Impact The TON Ecosystem?

Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of Telegram, has been detained by authorities in France. The detention is related to a search warrant alleging violations of the encrypted messaging platform.

French media, together with Le Monde, reported that Durov was arrested upon arriving from Azerbaijan in his personal jet at Le Bourget airport, located north of Paris. Le Monde’s report, referencing sources conversant in the matter, confirmed Durov’s arrest. 

Bloomberg additionally highlighted a Telegram put up by Maria Zakharova, a Russian Overseas Ministry spokesman who verified the arrest, including additional validity to the story concerning the occasion.

Telegram CEO Beneath Investigation By French Authorities

French authorities have launched a preliminary investigation into Telegram, the favored messaging platform, with L’Workplace Mineurs (OFMIN), the company answerable for monitoring crimes towards minors, issuing a search warrant. 

AFP claims that the probe covers a spectrum of claimed misdeeds, together with fraud, drug trafficking, cyberbullying, and arranged crime exercise enabled by the location. The examination outcomes from worries about Telegram’s insufficient content material management strategies.

Workplace of Monetary Market Integrity (OFMIN) is main the inquiry towards Durov. Based on reviews, Durov was supposed to seem in court docket on Aug. 25. Given the gravity of the fees dedicated, accusations towards him would possibly lead to a 20-year jail sentence.

The Affect On TON

Third-party blockchain system TON, built-in with Telegram, continues to function as typical regardless of Durov’s authorized objections. A current touch upon TON’s official X account verified the protocol’s stability and underlined the encouraging response of its group beneath the present circumstances. Telegram has but to say the founder’s detention. 

Assertion from the TON Group

Following the current information associated to the Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov, we wish to guarantee everybody that the TON group stays robust and totally operational.

As a group dedicated to freedom of speech and decentralization, we stand firmly…

— TON 💎 (@ton_blockchain) August 24, 2024

The platform added: “As a group dedicated to freedom of speech and decentralization, we stand firmly by Pavel throughout this difficult time. Pavel has been a devoted advocate for these values, and we consider his efforts to advertise an open and decentralized web will proceed to encourage tens of millions.”

The Telegram-linked TON token skilled a pointy decline of as much as 17% following reviews of Durov’s arrest in France. As of the most recent replace, TON is buying and selling barely above $5.72, marking a 15% drop in just some hours.

Group Response On Telegram CEO’s Arrest

On Aug. 24, Tesla CEO and X platform proprietor Elon Musk voiced his help for Durov by posting a previous interview between Durov and impartial journalist Tucker Carlson on his social media, accompanied by the hashtag #FreePavel.

#FreePavel
pic.twitter.com/B7AcJWswMs

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024

In a current video assertion, Durov praised Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, describing it as a useful transfer for technological development and the promotion of free speech.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin answered an X put up by American entrepreneur and investor Balaji Srinivasan, addressing the problem additional. Whereas Buterin has publicly criticized Telegram’s encryption insurance policies prior to now, he voiced grave worries concerning the newest accusations towards the location. 

He underlined doable future penalties for the liberty of software program and communication in Europe and outlined the primary parts as “very dangerous and worrying.” Because the narrative began to take flight on social media, with Telegram trending on platform X, a number of eminent folks offered their evaluation. 

Amongst them, Robert Kennedy Jr., the American politician who suspended his presidential marketing campaign in August 2024, emphasised that Durov’s arrest underscored the important significance of safeguarding platforms devoted to free speech and privateness.

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