French, UAE Intelligence Spied on Telegram Founder Pavel Durov, WSJ Says

French special services conducted a joint espionage operation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2017 aimed at hacking the iPhone of Pavel Durov, the founder of messaging app Telegram, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

The operation, dubbed Purple Music, was intended to gather intelligence on Durov and his platform.

According to unnamed sources cited by the WSJ, the French intelligence community viewed Telegram with suspicion, particularly due to concerns about its use by terrorist organizations such as the Islamic State for recruiting militants and orchestrating attacks. A former employee of France’s General Directorate of Internal Security indicated that hacking into Telegram had been a long-term objective for the country’s spy services.

According to WSJ, a year later French President Emmanuel Macron offered Durov to relocate Telegram to Paris during a dinner. The entrepreneur reportedly declined the proposal. During this meeting, Macron and Durov also discussed a potential French citizenship to Telegram CEO.

In 2021, both France and the UAE ultimately granted Durov citizenship. Later this year, the Gulf countries invested over $75 million into his platform.

On August 24, Durov was detained at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, with his detention further extended to 96 hours the next day. Durov is being held in custody in connection with France’s allegations of his complicity in serious crimes, including drug trafficking, crimes against children, and fraud, essentially holding him responsible for abuses facilitated through Telegram.

Earlier, Politico reported that Macron and his team have used Telegram for communications since at least 2017, making contradictions to Paris’s stance towards the platform.