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Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov said that French intelligence pressured Telegram into censoring political content, which he refused to do. Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov claimed that French intelligence services asked him to censor content related to the election in Moldova in 2024 in exchange for saying “good things” to the judge overseeing his trial, which he declined to do. Durov said the messaging platform initially took down some posts that “clearly” violated Telegram’s terms of service, but declined to remove any additional content for political reasons. Durov wrote in a Sunday Telegram post: Their only commonality was that they voiced political positions disliked by the French and Moldovan governments. We refused to act on this request,” he continued. Read more

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested one year ago and has since then been required to stay in France while under investigation. One year has passed since the arrest of Telegram CEO and co-founder Pavel Durov, sparking outrage from free speech activists and concern over the future of platform moderation. On Aug. 24, 2024, Durov was arrested at the Paris-Le Bourget Airport in Paris, France as part of an investigation by the French National Judicial Police. The 12 charges later filed against him claim that he is complicit in serious crimes committed by users on his platform. Durov has expressed confusion and frustration about the case in recent interviews. Free speech advocates harshly criticized the arrest, stating it has serious implications for free speech and platform development.  Read more

In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Pavel Durov’s first since being indicted on six charges in 2024, said his company did nothing wrong. Telegram founder Pavel Durov is still trying to figure out why he was detained in France last August, though the motives may have been political and tied to authorities’ efforts to crack down on alleged illicit activity on the messaging platform. That was one of the key takeaways from Durov’s interview with Tucker Carlson, which premiered Tuesday on YouTube.  In his first interview since his Aug. 24, 2024, arrest at Bourget Airport outside Paris, Durov said French authorities appeared primarily interested in how Telegram works — “as if it’s some kind of mystery,” he quipped. Read more

Pavel Durov is a keynote speaker at the Human Rights Foundation's Oslo Freedom Forum, a summit for universal human rights and autonomy. Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov will not be physically attending the Oslo Freedom Forum in Oslo, Norway, after French courts denied his request to travel to the Scandinavian country. According to an announcement from the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) — a non-profit organization that advocates for universal human rights and individual liberty, and the host of the Oslo Freedom Forum — Durov will still deliver his keynote address remotely over a livestream. “It is unfortunate that French courts would block Mr. Durov from participating in an event where his voice is so needed,” HRF founder and CEO Thor Halvorssen said. Read more