Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with allegedly aiding terrorism. Russian authorities have also issued an international arrest warrant for him, Reuters reports, News.bg reports.
According to the FSB, the charges relate to Telegram's failure to remove materials that Moscow claims were used by Ukrainian special services, as well as by terrorist and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate sabotage, terrorist attacks, mass murders and cyber fraud on Russian territory.
Telegram was founded in 2013 and today has over one billion users worldwide. The application is widely used both in Russia and Ukraine, as well as in many other countries.
In recent years, Russian authorities have repeatedly taken action to restrict Telegram, while simultaneously promoting the use of the state-backed messaging platform MAX.
Meanwhile, Pavel Durov is also under investigation in France. French authorities are investigating whether Telegram has taken sufficient measures against criminal activity on the platform and whether it has adequately cooperated with law enforcement requests.
Durov categorically denies any wrongdoing.