Russia charges Telegram founder over terror links, issues global arrest warrant

The charges stemmed from Telegram's alleged failure to take down material that was 'used by Ukrainian special services and by terrorist and extremist organisations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism.'

In Short

• Russia accuses Telegram of failing to remove content allegedly linked to sabotage and cyberfraud
• Moscow claims the platform was used by Ukrainian intelligence and extremist groups
• The Telegram founder is also under investigation by French authorities

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) on Wednesday charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with facilitating terrorist activities, accusing the messaging platform of failing to remove content allegedly used to coordinate sabotage, terrorism and cyber-fraud operations inside the country.

The FSB said it had also issued an international arrest warrant for Durov. There was no immediate response from either Durov or Telegram.

According to the Russian security agency, the charges stemmed from Telegram's alleged failure to take down material that was ‘used by Ukrainian special services and by terrorist and extremist organisations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass killings, and cyberfraud operations within the Russian Federation.’

Telegram, an encrypted messaging platform founded by Durov in 2013, says it has more than one billion users worldwide and has become one of the most widely used communication platforms on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Russia has repeatedly sought to curb Telegram's influence in recent years while promoting its state-backed MAX messaging service as an alternative.

Durov, who was born in Russia and now holds Emirati and French citizenship, founded the Russian social networking platform VKontakte before selling his remaining stake in 2014 amid mounting pressure from Russian authorities.

The latest action by Moscow comes as Durov also faces scrutiny in France. French authorities are investigating allegations that Telegram failed to adequately curb criminal activity on the platform and did not sufficiently cooperate with law enforcement requests. Durov has denied any wrongdoing.

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