French TV channels TF1 and BFM both reported that Pavel Durov was being investigated over Telegram's lack of moderators - a situation that police say has allowed criminal activity to go unchecked on the messaging app.

Here's what you need to know about billionaire Durov and his Telegram app:

Durov, 39, who was born in Russia, is the founder and owner of Telegram, a free messaging app that competes with other social networks such as Facebook's WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat. Telegram aims to surpass one billion monthly active users within a year.

Telegram is influential in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics. It has become a key source of information about the Russia-Ukraine conflict, widely used by officials in both Moscow and Kiev. Some analysts have called the app a “virtual battlefield” for the conflict.

Durov, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with a government demand to shut down opposition communities on his social media platform VKontakte, which he sold.

Durov became a French citizen in August 2021. He had previously brought Telegram to Dubai in 2017 and had also received citizenship from the United Arab Emirates. He is also a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis, an island nation in the Caribbean.

Russia began blocking Telegram in 2018 after the app refused to allow state security services access to users' encrypted messages. The move did not significantly impact Telegram's availability in Russia.

Telegram’s growing popularity has prompted scrutiny from several European countries, including France, over concerns about privacy and data breaches. In May, EU tech regulators said they had contacted Telegram as the company neared a request to comply with stricter requirements under the EU’s new online content laws.

"I'd rather be free than take orders from anyone," Mr. Durov told American journalist Tucker Carlson last April.

Ngoc Anh (according to Reuters)