Both TF1 and BFM said the investigation was focused on a lack of moderators at Telegram, a situation that police believe could allow criminal activity to continue unchecked on the messaging app.
Telegram did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Neither did the French interior ministry or police comment. Russia, which has tried to ban Telegram in the past, said it was taking steps to “clarify” Durov's situation.
What we know about Durov and Telegram:
* Telegram is influential in Russia, Ukraine and the former Soviet Union. It has become a key source of information about Russia's war in Ukraine and is frequently used by government officials in both Moscow and Kiev. Some analysts have called the app a “virtual battlefield” in the war.
* Durov received French citizenship in August 2021. In 2017, he moved Telegram to Dubai and, according to French media, also received United Arab Emirates citizenship. He also holds citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis, a twin-island nation in the Caribbean, according to media reports.
* “I'd rather be free than follow someone else's orders,” Durov told American journalist Tucker Carlson in April about leaving Russia and scouting locations for his company in Berlin, London, Singapore and San Francisco.
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Reporting by Lydia Kelly in Melbourne; Additional reporting by Camille Reynaud in Toronto; Editing by David Gregorio and Kim Coghill
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