Telegram Founder Pavel Durov Named on Russian Financial Extremists List
Background and Recent Developments
MOSCOW, July 30 (Reuters) - Russia's financial monitoring agency, Rosfinmonitoring, added Telegram founder Pavel Durov to its list of extremists and terrorists, according to a designation on the agency's website posted on Thursday.
Charges and Allegations Against Pavel Durov
Moscow charged Durov on Wednesday with facilitating terrorist activity, alleging that Ukrainian spies were using his popular messaging app to organise attacks inside Russia.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Durov, who lives in Dubai, is being placed on an international wanted list, but it did not specify what mechanism Russia would use to do this.
Russian Government Actions Against Telegram
The action against Durov is part of a broader crackdown on Telegram by the Russian government, which has effectively throttled the app as it seeks to promote state-backed services and tighten control over what Russians can see and do online.
Telegram's Response and Public Statements
In response to the charges, Telegram's official account on X posted an image of the 41-year-old Russian-born billionaire making an obscene gesture with his middle finger.
In a statement on Thursday, the Telegram channel of the Russian presidency wrote: "No separate decision has yet been published designating Telegram as a banned organisation, so there is currently no ban on the use of the Telegram messaging app."
Telegram's Popularity and Official Use
Telegram says it has more than 1 billion users and is popular in Russia, Ukraine and other ex-Soviet countries. It is also used daily by the Kremlin, the Russian Defence Ministry and dozens of high-level officials.
Rosfinmonitoring's Extremist List and Its Implications
Durov, who left Russia in 2014 and later moved Telegram to Dubai, joins the Taliban, U.S. tech company Meta, and what Russia calls the "LGBT movement" in Rosfinmonitoring's list.
The designation effectively outlaws those entities' activities inside Russia and opens avenues for criminal cases against those perceived as associated with them.
Durov's Reaction to the Extremist Designation
After he was added to the watchdog's list on Thursday, Durov posted a meme on his Telegram channel with the headline "Don't mix them up" above a photograph of himself with the label "terrorists' accomplice" beside another photograph of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meeting with members of the Taliban with a caption reading "dear partners."
Durov posted that he was in Georgia last week, but his current whereabouts are unclear.
Reporting and Editorial Information
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Gleb Bryanski and Rod Nickel)
