(DailyAnswer.org) – The founder and CEO of the messaging platform Telegram is now sitting in a French jail cell after he was arrested upon landing at Le Bourget Airport.
When Durov landed in his private yet on Saturday, Aug. 24, he was apprehended by French authorities for “various violations” related to Telegram Messenger Inc., the encrypted messaging service co-founded by the Russian executive, investor, and entrepreneur in 2013. The 39-year-old was a citizen of four nations: Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and France.
Durov is specifically accused of a “lack of moderation” on the platform as American and European leaders are trying to stop the “viral circulation of false information.” The warrant from the Office to Combat Violence Against Minors is related to a wider investigation of Telegram pertaining to drug trafficking, organized crime activity, terrorism, cyberbullying, and fraud.
The entrepreneur, who rarely sits down for interviews, agreed to speak with conservative journalist Tucker Carlson back in April and said one of the reasons he founded Telegram was because the Russian government demanded his former platform, VK, censor speech in order to interrupt ongoing protests at the time. Durov told Carlson that the same thing happened in 2013 with the Ukrainian government and ongoing protests organized using VK.
When the Russian government then tried to demand information about the Ukrainian protesters, VK refused and Durov said that “didn’t go too well with the Russian government” and he decided to flee the situation. Durov said he “had to make a difficult decision” between complying with what Russian and Ukrainian government officials told him to do, or selling his stake in VK, retiring, resigning as the CEO, and leaving the country. He said he “chose the latter.”
After news broke of Durov’s arrest in France, Carlson reacted and posted a statement on social media pointing out how it wasn’t Russian President Vladimir Putin who arrested Durov for allowing free speech, but “a Western country” allied with the Biden administration and an “enthusiastic” member of NATO.
Elon Musk, who owns the social media platform X, also responded to the news and called Durov’s arrest a good “ad for the First Amendment.”
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