PARIS, Aug 26 (Reuters) – Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France as part of an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, French prosecutors said on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron, making the first official confirmation of Durov’s arrest since he was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, said there was no political motive in the arrest, despite many false comments online. He added that France remains deeply committed to lawful free speech.

“The arrest of the Telegram president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron wrote on X. “This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide.”

In a subsequent statement, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Durov was arrested as part of a probe into an unnamed person launched by the office’s cybercrime unit on July 8.

The investigation is over suspected complicity in various crimes including running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, child pornography, drug trafficking and fraud, as well as the refusal to communicate information to authorities, money laundering and providing cryptographic services to criminals, the statement said.

Durov can be held until Wednesday, it added.

Reuters was unable to reach any lawyer representing Durov.

Telegram is a popular messaging and social media app akin to WhatsApp. The encrypted application, with close to 1 billion users, is particularly influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union.

Durov’s arrest prompted criticism from X owner Elon Musk who said that free speech in Europe was under attack, and calls from Moscow for French authorities to accord Durov his rights.

Tensions between France and Russia have been mounting for months, with French authorities accusing Russia of trying to destabilize it ahead of the Paris Olympics in response to its more hawkish stance on the Ukraine war – claims Russia denies.

Durov, a 39-year-old billionaire cast as “Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg” has dual French and United Arab Emirates citizenship. Estimated by Forbes to have a fortune of $15.5 billion, Durov said in April some governments had sought to pressure him, but the app should remain a neutral platform and not a “player in geopolitics”.

Telegram gave no details of the arrest but said the Dubai-based company abided by European Union laws and its moderation was “within industry standards and constantly improving”.

“Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” Telegram said in a statement. “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”

The Kremlin on Monday said it had yet to see any official French accusations against Durov.

“We do not yet know what exactly Durov is accused of,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news briefing. “With what exactly are they trying to incriminate Durov? Without (knowing), it would probably be wrong to make any statements.”

The Russian embassy in Paris said on X that French authorities had declined to cooperate with its requests for consular access, but said it was in contact with Durov’s lawyer. The embassy did not respond to a request for comment.

FRENCH CITIZEN

Telegram was founded by Durov, a self-confessed libertarian who left Russia in 2014 after he refused to comply with demands to shut down opposition communities on his VK social media platform, which he has sold.

He obtained his French passport in 2021 through a rare, fast-track procedure for high-profile foreigners exempting them from the usual legal requirements, including having lived in the country for at least five years.

The French foreign ministry, which is in charge of the procedure, did not reply to a Reuters request for comment. The Elysee presidential office also declined to comment, deferring to the foreign ministry.

According to French law, any foreigner can be granted citizenship under the special rules provided he speaks French and “contributes through his outstanding work to France’s influence and the prosperity of its international economic relations.”

Durov never lived in France and it was unclear what special link he had to the country. On June 10, Durov posted in his Telegram channel: “As a French citizen, I agree that France is the best holiday destination.”

His naturalization procedure is rare, with only 10-20 cases processed each year and each one requiring high-level political support, local media have reported.

Aside from the citizenships of France and the United Arab Emirates, Durov has been reported by Russian state media to have also the citizenships of Russia and of St Kitts and Nevis. Reuters was unable to verify those reports.

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Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Elizabeth Pineau and Gabriel Stargardter in Paris and Guy Faulconbridge in Moscow; Writing by Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Alison Williams, Andrew Heavens and Sandra Maler

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Election Day is now just 70 days away. The Republican National Convention is over, with Donald Trump and JD Vance at the top of the GOP ticket. The Democratic National Convention is also behind us, with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz winning their party’s nomination after President Biden abruptly dropped out of the race in July. 

If there is one theme that is common to politicians in both parties, it is how they misrepresent information to spin a positive view of themselves — and a negative view of their opponents. 

Using data to make a point is common in today’s digital society. Given the plethora of data available, it is often straightforward to find evidence that makes just about any point a politician wishes to make. Even if perception is not reality, voters must wade through all such information to make their own assessments and conclusions. 

Consider the economy as an example that impacts almost everyone. Is the economy healthy or struggling? The question sounds simple, but the answer depends on what data you use. 

The major indices of the stock market are near all-time highs. Inflation has stabilized at around 3 percent, moderating price increases. The Federal Reserve is talking about an interest rate cut later in the year. All such aggregated metrics can be interpreted to mean that the economy is on solid footing. Yet many such metrics have limited impact on some people. 

Though purchasing power (wage increases minus inflation) have been positive over the past year, the perception of higher prices has dampened some people’s view of the economy. The unemployment rate now sitz at around 4.3 percent, with job creation slowing. Much depends on what area a person works in, with some sectors struggling to find skilled workers and other sectors showing a surfeit of people seeking work. 

All such data is factually true. What differs is how data is cherry-picked to make a desired point — one that shines a dark shadow on your opponent and a bright light on yourself. This is the nature of politics and campaigning, part of every politician’s campaign playbook since the birth of our nation. 

When data and information are misused, fact-checkers quickly jump in to assess what is being stated and its veracity. Often, fact-checking debunks politicians’ misinformation but has little to no effect. In today’s political environment, there is no accountability when a politician makes blatantly wrong statements or (conveniently) fails to provide a complete picture of a situation. 

Both Republicans and Democrats are guilty of such distortions. And the voters in each party are primed to believe them, and to discount anything offered by the other side. 

For example, when Donald Trump stated on Aug. 15 in a news conference that “California law lets you ‘rob a store as long as it’s not more than $950’ and not get charged,” blaming Kamala Harris, Politifact rated the claim as false. Similarly, Politifact rated as mostly false Harris’s July 30 statement in a rally in Atlanta that “Donald Trump intends to cut Medicare.”  

Though there is no direct way to stop such misrepresentations, voters should welcome them: they actually serve as valuable pieces of information. When a candidate makes outrageous statements that misrepresent data, it permits voters to access the character and platform of the candidate.  

Of course, voters are prone to believe what they want rather than what is true. 

What candidates appear to forget in their campaigning strategy is this simple truth. Given the polarized status of the nation and electorate, a small number of voters will ultimately determine who will win the White House. In 2016, it came down to around 110,000 votes in three states (Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania), while in 2020, it was around 50,000 votes, also in three states (Georgia, Wisconsin and Arizona). Only these states — and these voters — are critical when it comes to assessing the credibility and electability of a candidate. 

Data misrepresentations, including deepfakes, provide valuable information for voters, such as when Trump posted a fake Taylor Swift endorsement, prompting backlash. With social media effectively communicating information at the speed of light, politicians today would be wise to keep their statements about their opponents as close to true as possible. Given that it will likely take just a few thousand votes to move the Electoral College outcome and determine who will win the White House, the risk of being exposed can be a candidate’s undoing. 

So when Donald Trump or Kamala Harris make statements about each other, they will certainly get cheers from their respective supporters at rallies. However, the 100,000 people in key battleground states are their real audience and who they should be speaking to. Indeed, the candidates with the most outrageous misrepresentations may find themselves on the losing end come Election Day.  

Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., is a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.