Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, has been allowed to temporarily leave France, where he is charged with multiple infractions linked to allegedly enabling organised crime.
Mr Durov, 40, was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris in August 2024 and charged with a litany of violations related to the popular messaging app.
It was the first time the founder of a social media company had been arrested over content on their platform. Telegram is one of the top messaging apps in the world, with over 900 million active users.
After days of questioning, he was charged with several counts of failing to kerb extremist and terrorist content and released on a £4.2 million bail.
He had been banned from leaving the country, but it is understood that a judge changed those restrictions late last week. On Saturday, it is thought that he flew out to Dubai.
“He departed France this morning,” one source told the AFP news agency.