Who is Pavel Durov? Telegram founder, Russian exile and father to over 100 children [Video]

Support trulyindependent journalism

Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.

Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.

Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.

Pavel Durov, the founder of the hugely popular messaging app Telegram, remains in detention in France after being arrested over the weekend as part of an ongoing judicial investigation.

The 39-year-old tech billionaire has been described as Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg for his role in founding the social media platform VK, however he was forced to leave the company in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to share details of protestors that were active on the site.

He continued to run Telegram from Dubai, having obtained dual citizenship from the UAE and France, and travelled regularly throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe before his arrest on Saturday.

The arrest was reportedly about insufficient moderation on Telegram, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying on Monday that it was “in no way a …

Tags Sentiment Analysis, Social, Social Media Management