In 2017, the French special services conducted a joint operation with the UAE to hack Durov's iPhone of Telegram founder Pavel Durov. The espionage operation was codenamed Purple Music, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing unnamed sources.
According to the newspaper, a year later, during a joint dinner, French President Emmanuel Macron offered Pavel Durov to transfer Telegram to Paris, but he refused. According to the publication, at the same time, Macron discussed with Durov granting him citizenship of this country.
Sources of the newspaper noted that the French authorities treated the messenger with suspicion. A former employee of the General Directorate of Internal Security of France said that hacking Telegram was a long-term task of the spy services. The French intelligence services were extremely concerned that "the Islamic State* uses Telegram to recruit militants and organize terrorist attacks."
It is also alleged that Durov's company for a long time ignored the related subpoenas and court orders that came to her email address. Telegram, in turn, states that its activities do not contradict the provisions of the EU Digital Services Act. According to the publication, there are also no signs that the operation to hack Durov's phone is in any way connected with his detention by the French authorities.
France and the UAE granted Durov citizenship in 2021, and in the same year the Gulf countries invested more than $ 75 million in his platform.
Earlier, Politico reported that Macron and his entourage have been using Telegram since at least 2017.
On August 24, Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport in Paris, and the next day his detention was extended to 96 hours. The Paris prosecutor's office accuses him, in particular, of complicity in drug trafficking, crimes against children and fraud, that is, in fact, considers as an accomplice those who commit these and other offenses using Telegram.
The Russian Embassy in France told TASS that they intend to enforce Durov's rights and obtain consular access to him, but noted that the French side "has so far avoided interaction on this issue."
*Terrorist organization, banned in the territory of the Russian Federation