MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin told Telegram owner Pavel Durov to be more attentive after the messaging application was allegedly used to help recruit the gunmen who attacked a concert hall outside Moscow.
Telegram, now based in Dubai, was founded by Durov, who left Russia in 2014 after he lost control of his previous company. Russian-born Durov, 39, lives in Dubai and holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France, according to Telegram.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media site, Life, that there were no plans to block the messaging app, a major disseminator of news in Russia and around the world, but that Durov should be more attentive.
“We would expect more attention from Pavel Durov, because this unique and phenomenal resource from a technological point of view, which has grown, in fact, before the eyes of our generation, is increasingly becoming a tool in the hands of terrorists — used for terrorist purposes,” Peskov said.
RIA state news agency said the attackers had been recruited via a radical channel on Telegram belonging to the Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) group.
Durov is estimated to have a fortune of $15.5 billion by Forbes.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
