Pavel Durov is the founder and owner of messaging app Telegram, which has more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. Telegram, which is free to use, competes with messaging apps like Facebook's WhatsApp. Durov left Russia after refusing to cooperate with the secret service and provide encrypted data of his first social network's users. Telegram was banned in Russia from 2018 to 2021. Durov became a French citizen in 2021 but lives in Dubai.