Last weekend, Russian tech giant Pavel Durov left his private jet and found himself under arrest.

As the news spread around the world, Durov's tech baron peers started sweating. For years they had acted without fear. Authorities failed to bring them to heel. But now the French criminal service had caught one of their own.

Durov, who founded TelegramToday: an encrypted instant messaging app. In the past: a message sent via electric wires and delivered as a printed piece of paper. As every word was expensive, making the message as short as possible became an art. A famous joke telegram sent from Venice read, "STREETS FULL OF WATER PLEASE ADVISE"., has been placed under formal investigation.¹ If the process leads to a trialA trial is where two people or two groups of people argue in a court. and he is found guilty, he could face up to 10 years in prison. 

Telegram is the world's fourth biggest messaging platform. Durov says it has 950 million monthly active users.²

Like WhatsApp, it offers end-to-end encryptionA way of scrambling data so that only certain people can understand it. so that third parties cannot read its messages.³

Unlike the MetaThe new name of the company which owns Facebook and Instagram.-owned app, which caps groups at 1,000 members, Telegram allows for groups of up to 200,000. This has helped make it popular with activists. British security services believe it played a role in last month's riots.

Telegram has been accused of not doing enough to stop false claims, criminals and hateful groups. Durov refuses to police his app because he is anti-censorshipPreventing or stopping speech, writing or communication that is considered harmful or "inconvenient". . He has spent years ignoring government requests to remove criminal content.

Durov's arrest is the first time the owner of a messaging service has been found personally responsible for the way their software is used.⁴ 

Telegram have fumed against the arrest. The platform posted: "It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform."

Somes think the arrest attacks freedom of expression. The American whistleblowerSomeone who exposes secretive behaviour by a group or organisation; once used to describe police who blew whistles to signal the scene of a crime. Edward Snowden has called it "an assault on the basic human rightsThe basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life. Some have called for animals and even natural phenomena like rivers to have some form of human rights. of speech and association". 

Politicians and the public seem to disagree. A YouGovA British public opinion and polling company. It was co-founded by Nadhim Zahawi, a Conservative Party politician. poll last month found that 66% of Britons think social media managers should be held responsible for inciting riots. In recent years both the US and the EUEuropean Union. An economic and political union of 27 countries. have hit tech firms with a series of lawsuits.

Durov's fall might be a one off. It is harder in Europe to charge individuals than companies.⁵ And tech giants barely glance at paying fines. Yet even if Durov escapes the worst, the arrest itself makes a bold statement.

Is this the downfall of the tech barons?

Yes: Durov's arrest is the first blow in a war that looks to rage in the years ahead. The tech barons have money on their side. But governments have popular support, moral superiority and the law. And the law always wins in the end. 

No: Telegram is a special case. Durov's anti-censorship stance allowed crimes to happen on his watch. Other tech leaders are too clever and profit-motivated to let themselves fall into the same trap.

Or... It looks like the tech barons are at risk. But they are slippery creatures. If you behead a tech giant, a new head might grow back. And even if it does not, the company will remain to operate, only without a public-facing leader.

FOR YOUR FINAL SUMMER READING CHALLENGE CLUE GO TO STEP SIX IN THE SIX STEPS TO DISCOVERY BELOW.