Prosecutor says that Telegram founder Pavel Durov is under formal investigation, with bail set at $5.56 million

A French prosecutor stated in a statement released on Wednesday night that Pavel Durov, the CEO and co-founder of the messaging and news app Telegram, will not be permitted to leave France after being charged in France with permitting various forms of criminality within the app.

According to the French prosecutor's statement, the billionaire, who was born in Russia, is under investigation for a number of possible crimes linked to criminal activity on the platform, including "laundering of crimes in an organized gang," complicity in illegal gang transactions, and refusal to provide information to authorities.

His bail is set at $5.56 million (5 million euros), and he has to attend to the French police station twice a week in order to remain in the nation under judicial monitoring.

Earlier in the day, Durov was taken from French police custody and brought before a judge to be questioned.

In the French legal system, the formal investigation that was unveiled on Wednesday night does not imply guilt; rather, it shows that the prosecutors think there is enough evidence to warrant a thorough official probe. It is not yet official that he is charged.

The French National Office for Minors has informed the prosecutor's office about Telegram's "near absence of response" to court demands about charges such as online hate speech, trafficking, and pedophilia crimes, according to a statement released by the prosecutor's office on Wednesday.

Some free speech advocates and well-known members of the computer industry have expressed outrage and conjecture about Durov's detention, claiming that the French authorities' actions were motivated by a desire to monitor or control conversations on the network.

However, detractors claim that despite the app's praise from free speech organizations and its ability to provide private communication in nations with repressive policies, it has turned into a shelter for those organizing illegal activity, including the terrorists who plotted the November 2015 attacks in Paris.