Khaberni - The Russian state newspaper "Rossiyskaya Gazeta", citing the Federal Security Service, reported that the authorities are investigating Telegram app founder Pavel Durov in a criminal case related to "facilitating terrorist activities".
It has not been possible to contact Durov for comments on the report yet, but the app has denied a series of Russian allegations in the past few days that it is a haven for criminal activities, and that it has been compromised by Western and Ukrainian intelligence services.
The newspaper mentioned that "the actions of Telegram's head, P. Durov, are under investigation in a criminal case based on the crime pursuant to paragraph 1.1 of Article 205.1 (supporting terrorist activities) of the Russian criminal law".
The newspaper clarified that its article is based on materials from the Federal Security Service. The app, which claims to have more than one billion active users worldwide, has not yet responded to a request for comment.
The Russian government telecommunications regulator has imposed restrictions on Telegram, which is very popular in Russia for both public and private communications, due to what it says is the company's failure to delete extremist content.
Moscow is trying to encourage citizens to switch to the state-supported app known as "Max", which was launched almost a year ago.
