GermanyRussia has issued an international arrest warrant against Pavel Durov, the founder of the messaging app Telegram, accusing him of aiding terrorism. The Federal Security Service (FSB) claims that Telegram failed to remove channels and chatbots used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies and extremist groups to plan sabotage and terror attacks in Russia. According to Russian authorities, over 150,000 requests were made to Telegram to delete prohibited content, but these were ignored. The FSB cites several attacks, including an Islamist-inspired attack on a Moscow concert hall in March 2024 that killed more than 140 people, as evidence of Telegram’s role in facilitating such activities. Durov, who holds citizenship in France and the United Arab Emirates, had left Russia in 2014 and reportedly visited the country multiple times until 2021. He faces similar investigations in France regarding his platform’s content moderation practices.
Bias read (Center): The article presents the FSB's accusations against Durov and provides context from Russian state media and official reports. It does not exhibit overtly biased language or selective sourcing, offering both the charges and Durov's background without clear ideological framing.
