Telegram CEO Arrested Over Moderation Issues, TON Coin Down 16%

French police have arrested one of the founders and CEO of Telegram App, Pavel Durov. The French-Russian national was arrested at Le Bourget Airport, Paris, over allegations related to Telegram’s moderation, among other vices committed on the platform unchecked. The arrest has seriously impacted TON cryptocurrency, which fell by 16% following the widespread news.

The entrepreneur, whom sources say was arriving at the airport in his private jet, was arrested after an arrest warrant related to his platform was issued. Different French media outlets state he was nabbed; however, different offenses were cited without the police specifying which is genuine.

While the Russian embassy responded immediately to the arrest, saying the two countries are exchanging diplomatic letters regarding his arrest and gathering more information on what led to it, no response has been given on the incident by Telegram officials.

The 36-year-old entrepreneur was said to be traveling to France from Azerbaijan when he was nabbed by the police. Telegram’s silence on content moderation has allowed social vices to increase in Europe and beyond, and according to the French government, criminal activities are widespread on Telegram.

With 900 million active users, Telegram has lots of criminal activities ongoing on the platform, and officials say it has “never” disclosed user data to government agencies. However, according to a report by Der Spiegel, Telegram has been actively sharing people’s data with governments.

Telegram is actively being used by terrorists across the globe. It is a popular means of communication in countries like Ukraine, Russia, and former Soviet nations.

Durov, although based in Dubai, is a Russian-French national born in Russia. His intent is to have a “neutral platform” devoid of government interference.

Telegram was created by the Durov brothers. In 2018, they launched The Open Network (TON). The blockchain project has now evolved into a widely used blockchain ecosystem, with its TON Coin increasing in value year after year.

Now that one of the founders of Telegram has been arrested, the price of the cryptocurrency TON has dipped. At the time of filing this report, it is selling at $5.62 after falling by 16% in the last 24 hours.

Lately, Telegram has been actively campaigning against WhatsApp. One of the founders stated in a post that anyone with WhatsApp installed on their phone should know that “all your data from every app on your device is accessible.”