French Authorities Investigate Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Over Allegations of Child Abuse and Lack of Platform Moderation

French prosecutors have requested additional details from Switzerland regarding accusations that Pavel Durov, the founder of the messaging platform Telegram, committed acts of violence against one of his children. These allegations were brought forward by Irina Bolgar, Durov’s former partner and the mother of the child in question. Bolgar, who was in a relationship with Durov from early 2013 until 2022, filed a legal complaint in a Geneva court in March 2023.

Bolgar, who now resides in Switzerland with their three children, told CNN about her relationship with Durov, stating that although their marriage was never officially registered, their children were legally recognized and bear Durov’s last name. She shared this information on her Instagram account.

The legal complaint, which CNN has reviewed, details that Bolgar’s allegations against Durov involve accusations of violence against one of their three children. CNN reached out to Durov’s legal representatives for comments on the case, but they declined to respond.

According to the ongoing legal proceedings, Durov is accused of harming his youngest son on five occasions between 2021 and 2022. The complaint includes an allegation that Durov once threatened to kill the child.

Recently, Durov, 39, was apprehended at Paris’s Bourget Airport on a warrant linked to Telegram’s lack of content moderation. The platform has been criticized for being used by terrorist organizations and far-right extremists. As a result, Durov has been placed under formal investigation for multiple offenses related to criminal activities facilitated on his messaging platform. He was released from custody on Wednesday but must remain in France under judicial supervision. His bail has been set at $5.56 million (5 million euros).

The Swiss complaint further states that the child reportedly suffered from an “anxious state,” along with “regular sleep troubles,” “enuresis” (bedwetting), and frequent nightmares following the alleged incidents.

Bolgar claims in her complaint that after she and Durov separated at the end of 2018, he agreed in writing to provide 150,000 euros per month for her and their children’s upkeep. “He gave her two bank cards,” the complaint notes, “allowing her to withdraw the said sum from his personal accounts.”

However, the complaint also mentions that Durov has not seen his children since September 2022 and has stopped providing financial support by blocking the bank cards he had initially given Bolgar.

In a post on Instagram dated July 30, Bolgar explained that she met Durov in 2012 and that they had lived as a “fully-fledged family” since 2013 in St. Petersburg, where their three children were born. She also stated that since 2020, she and her children have been living in Switzerland. “While living in different countries, my relationship with Pavel remained family-like,” she shared in the post.

Bolgar added that even though they were living apart, they “remained a couple,” and Durov would visit her and their children in Switzerland, sometimes accompanied by his mother and brother. She mentioned that she had not publicized details about her family to avoid drawing attention to herself or her children. However, she changed her stance when her children began questioning why there was no information about them on the internet, “unlike their father’s two older children,” as she put it. “I decided to shed some light on this information,” Bolgar said.

Durov’s arrest has sparked debates over freedom of speech and caused concern in Ukraine and Russia, where Telegram is extremely popular and widely used for communication, particularly during Moscow’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron has clarified that he “knew absolutely nothing” about Durov’s travel plans to France or his subsequent arrest. Macron emphasized that the arrest was an “independent action” taken by the French judicial system. Speaking at a press conference in Belgrade, Serbia, Macron reiterated that he was not scheduled to meet with Durov “at the end of last week or the days after,” underscoring that the entrepreneur’s arrest was solely a decision made by France’s justice system.

Macron also defended his 2021 decision to grant French nationality to Durov, praising the entrepreneur for his efforts to learn the French language. Durov’s naturalization was part of a French government initiative that offers citizenship to individuals who “shine in the world” and show a commitment to learning French. Macron stood by this program, describing it as “a great thing for our country.”

Pavel Durov, who was born in the Soviet Union in 1984, became known in his 20s as the “Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.” He left Russia in 2014 and now resides in Dubai, where Telegram’s headquarters are located. In addition to his Russian roots, he holds French citizenship. Durov is currently estimated to have a net worth of $9.15 billion, according to Bloomberg, and has maintained a lavish lifestyle, traveling extensively over the past decade.

Despite the app’s popularity and recognition by free speech advocates for enabling private communication in countries with restrictive regimes, critics argue that Telegram has become a haven for individuals coordinating illegal activities, including terrorists involved in the 2015 Paris terror attacks.