Russia Issues International Wanted Notice for Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Over Terrorism Accusations

Russia announced on Wednesday that it issued an international wanted notice for Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov over accusations of "complicity in terrorism". "An international wanted notice has been issued... for the head of the Telegram administration, P Durov," Russia's main security agency FSB said in a statement. Moscow is accusing Russian-born Durov of failing to remove channels, chats and bots used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies and "extremist organisations" that it says contributed to "attacks killing civilians". The FSB said the platforms in question had aided "the preparation of terrorist attacks and cybercriminal activities in Russia, resulting in numerous human casualties, including women and children." Russia's Investigative Committee said it was separately examining criminal cases involving the recruitment of teenagers into alleged terrorism and sabotage through a chatbot called "Dayvinchik/Leo" on Telegram. The Kremlin frequently targets its political enemies on charges of supporting "terrorism" or "extremism". Durov, who has lived outside Russia for years and holds French and UAE passports, described the case as politically motivated, saying on Telegram that the Russian authorities were seeking pretexts to restrict access to the platform inside Russia. He has frequently clashed with the Russian authorities as Moscow has tightened its grip on the internet space. Telegram is one of the most widely used communications platforms in Russia, with tens of millions of active users. Russian officials have made repeated attempts over the years to block or restrict the service, or to compel Durov to hand over user data. Telegram was blocked in Russia from 2018 to 2020 before the ban was lifted without explanation. It has no end-to-end encryption by default but offers secret chats with that feature, and its architecture makes it difficult for governments to monitor. Durov, 41, lives in France, where he has also faced legal issues over allegations over the spread of illegal content on Telegram. Born in St Petersburg — Russian President Vladimir Putin's home city — Durov also founded VKontakte, a social media site widely known as "Russia's Facebook". He was essentially forced out of the company as it came under pressure from the authorities in the mid-2010s, when he founded Telegram.