Telegram founder’s arrest rekindles debate about censorship of non-Western media
By Maryam Qarehgozlou
After Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest in France, speculation is rife that charges against the tech entrepreneur may be linked to the platform’s coverage of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Durov, the Russian-born co-founder of messaging app Telegram, was arrested at Le Bourget airport outside Paris after arriving by a private plane from Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday evening.
French prosecutors said in a statement on Monday that his arrest is part of an ongoing investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraudulent transactions on the platform as well as the refusal to communicate information to authorities, money laundering, and providing cryptographic services to criminals.
The 39-year-old billionaire’s arrest warrant was reportedly issued while he was on the flight, just minutes before landing in Paris.
He faces 20 years in prison in France and will soon appear in court as a French citizen, reports say.
French President Emmanuel Macron in an X post on Monday said Durov’s arrest is “in no way a political decision” and that France is “deeply committed to freedom of expression.”
However, the tech mogul’s detention has sparked controversy over Western double standards towards free speech.
Critics say that Western authorities have long resented Telegram for offering alternative perspectives and resisting the kind of surveillance and content moderation imposed on other online platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or X.
To counter it they have accused the platform of facilitating myriad crimes and abuses.
Rumble’s CEO Chris Pavlovski said on X that Macron lies about his commitment to freedom of speech.
“When you say you are committed to freedom of expression, you are lying. We have a letter from France that proves this, without a doubt,” Pavlovski wrote.
“We had to shut down Rumble in France because you have NO commitment to freedom of expression,” he added.
Pavlovski also revealed on X that he had left Europe following the arrest of Durov.
“France has threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed a red line by arresting Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, reportedly for not censoring speech,” he said.
US may be behind Durov's arrest’
Mike Benz, a former Donald Trump State Department official suggested that the US State Department is likely behind Durov’s arrest.
“What they want to do is not kill Telegram like they wanted to kill WikiLeaks. They want to control it. And the problem was they didn’t have the ability to put sufficient pressure on Pavel to break his will as he was living in Dubai, but now, they have leverage. And I believe that’s the purpose of this prosecution,” he said.
Durov lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where Telegram is based, and holds citizenship in four countries: Russia, St. Kitts and Nevis (an island country in the Caribbean Sea), France, and the UAE.
According to the American journalist Tucker Carlson, Durov’s arrest is “a living warning” to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intelligence agencies.
“It was a Western country, a Biden administration ally, and an enthusiastic NATO member that locked him away,” he said, warning that “darkness is descending fast on the formerly free world.”
In an interview with Carlson in April, Durov complained about excessive attention from the FBI and other spy agencies every time he traveled to the US.
He explained that the FBI agents were “interested to learn more about Telegram.”
“They knew what we were doing, but they wanted details. My understanding is that they wanted to establish a relationship to control Telegram better,” Durov told Carlson.
He said while the US government had pressured him to allow a “backdoor” in the app for Western intelligence he has maintained that Telegram should remain a “neutral platform” that is not a “player in geopolitics.”
Durov an ‘inconvenient’ to the West
Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson has said that the French government is charging Durov with terrorism “because he has refused to censor certain groups” and allowed them to freely share information inconvenient to the West.
“Telegram is one of the few channels that actually allows information that’s critical of Western policy to go on. I think that’s really at the root of this,” Johnson was quoted as saying by Sputnik, noting the platform is used by Hamas supporters in West Asia.
The analyst said the coverage Durov allows on Telegram concerning the Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 40,400 people were killed, has become one of his “major issues” with the Western governments.
“I think particularly [the coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza] has rankled the Israelis quite a bit. And they’ve been looking to shut him down,” he added.
According to Johnson, the charges leveled against Durov are “a trumped up political case,” to intimidate the tech entrepreneur.
Angelo Giuliano, a Hong Kong-based political and financial analyst, also told Sputnik that there is an “oppression” of journalists and freedom of speech in the West and especially in the EU.
Giuliano warned that the Telegram CEO’s arrest is “a red flag” for whoever is actually spilling the “inconvenient truth.”
“What they say clearly at the EU is that they need to control the narrative because that’s everything. The narrative you control controls the mind of the people,” Giuliano said.
“I wouldn’t be surprised that they would try to get their hands on Telegram, to strike a deal with Telegram saying, well, we release you, you give us a price and maybe we can buy you,” Giuliano added.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also said Durov’s arrest fits into the policy of maximum pressure and coercion against alternative communication networks.
'Demons are losing control’
Influencers and activists on social media also reacted to Durov’s detainment and saw it as an “onslaught on free speech.”
Candace Owens, American media personality and political commentator said in a post on X that Durov’s arrest is an attempt by Western powers to regain control over the information that people can access as platforms such as telegram has challenged mainstream media’s ability to manipulate the narratives.
“The trouble with free speech is that it disallows the media to set the narrative. They used to be able to justify war to you in a faraway land. Now you can see the reality of what they are doing. This is why Pavel Durov has been arrested - because the demons are losing control,” she wrote.
Florian Philippot, leader of the French Patriots party in a post on X criticized French authorities, saying the French government’s “unbelievable” arrest of Durov for disobeying European censorship regulation has “presented a tyrannical face to the world.”
“We must free ourselves from these lunatics!” he said.
Italian film producer Robin Monotti also said Durov’s commitment to free speech and refusal to comply with censorship demands of the global elite and their military-industrial complex have led to his arrest.
“Pavel Durov is facing up to 20 years in Macron’s dungeons for refusing to censor content on behalf of the globalist oligarchy and their war machine,” Monotti wrote on X.
Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden also said that Durov’s arrest was an attack on a person’s right to freedom of speech, and he was saddened that Macron had stooped to “taking hostages.”
“The arrest of Durov is an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association. I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means of gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world,” Snowden wrote.
‘Free speech more harmful than child porn’
The arrest of the tech prodigy also prompted the X owner Elon Musk to slam the erosion of free speech and increased government control in the West.
“It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme,” Musk wrote on X, envisioning a dystopian Orwellian future where Western authorities exercise absolute control over people’s online behavior and expression and punish citizens for trivial actions that do not align with the ruling power’s ideology.
Musk also slammed fellow social media leader Mark Zuckerberg for conniving with Western governments.
After Naomi Seibt, a German conservative political activist wondered in a post on X why Meta CEO Zuckerberg walks free despite the “child predators” problem on his platform, Musk, quote tweeting her post, explained that it is because he has already “caved in to censorship pressure.”
Musk wrote, “Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck, as he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data.”
Netizens agreed with Musk’s observation, commenting that from the liberal-left perspective, “free speech is more harmful than child porn.”
Jacques Sapir, director of studies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris also echoed Musk saying Durov is facing “excessive” charges because he won’t bend to Western governments like Zuckerberg.
Despite Instagram’s “massive child exploitation problem” Zuckerberg censors free speech and apparently provided Western governments with a backdoor access to user data, Sapir said.
In the wake of Israel’s genocidal war against the Gaza Strip which began on October 7 last year, rights groups and users have repeatedly criticized Meta’s “systemic” censorship and so-called content moderation policies that have increasingly silenced voices in support of Palestine on Instagram and Facebook.
In May, Paul Biggar, a New York-based software engineer and blogger, said Israel’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based programs such as “Lavender” are most likely using information partly provided by Meta’s messaging app WhatsApp.
Lavender is a “target machine” which puts Palestinians on a kill list based on its training dataset such as being in a WhatsApp group with a known resistance fighter.
Biggar told the Press TV Website that the leadership of Meta is “extremely sectarian” and pro-Israel and that is why Israel’s military can get this information from WhatsApp, a supposedly “private” app.
Durov’s arrest also an ‘economic action’
Valentin Makarov, president of Russoft, a Russia-based association of software developing companies, has said that though Durov’s arrest in France is first and foremost a “political action,” it is also an “economic action.”
Makarov added that Durov’s arrest could be an attempt to stifle Telegram’s growth and maintain WhatsApp’s dominance in the messaging app market.
“There is WhatsApp and there is Telegram. Lately, Telegram has been beating WhatsApp. So, this is a normal reaction from [WhatsApp’s] American owners to stamp out a competitor using political motivation, only via France,” Makarov said.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the case against Durov in France was opened on July 8 and Durov may remain in police custody in France until Wednesday.
Reports say that France may use Durov’s trial as a pretense to impose EU sanctions against Telegram.
European Commission, however, refused to comment on the Telegram co-founder’s arrest.
“This is a national investigation, we do not intend to comment on it, it should be referred to the French authorities,” the European Commission’s press service said.
Telegram team, in a statement on its founder’s arrest, called out the absurdity of accusations against Durov.
It said “Telegram abides by EU laws” and that Durov “has nothing to hide.”
“Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as a means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all,” the statement concluded.
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