Russian Pavel Durov in custody for two days

In the hands of justice, a flamboyant business leader, Pavel Durov. Known as one of the most influential men in the world, he does not hesitate to put himself in the spotlight on social networks. At 39, the founder of Telegram has been responding to French investigators for two days. At the heart of the case, the excesses of his secure messaging service, a network that claims nearly a billion users. Among them are notably political figures or opponents, but also terrorist or criminal networks. The latter have understood the interest of the anonymity offered by Telegram, an encrypted messaging service created in Russia in 2013 by Pavel Durov.

The creator of Telegram obtained French nationality and guarantees end-to-end encrypted conversations in the name of freedom of expression. Consequently, the company transmits very little information about its users to the courts. This lack of cooperation is now being criticized by the courts.