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FREE SPEECH Under Attack! Rumble CEO AVOIDS Arrest! Telegram CEO ARRESTED in France! Ongoing Censorship?

Breaking news in the ongoing fight between CENSORSHIP vs FREE SPEECH:

First, it is now being reported that Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, recently at the center of attacks on free speech and censorship by authorities across the globe, has been arrested.

French authorities apparently nabbed Durov just after his plane landed in France.

Check out this report from CNN for a quick summary of what is happening:

French authorities have detained Pavel Durov, the French-Russian billionaire who founded the messaging app Telegram, at an airport outside Paris, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV.

Officers from France’s anti-fraud office, attached to French customs, took him into custody Saturday evening after he arrived at Bourget Airport on a flight from Azerbaijan, BFMTV reported.

Durov and his Telegram App have faced mounting attacks recently.

Several western governments have leveled charges ranging from drug trafficking, fraud, and terrorism – stemming from the lack of moderation on the Telegram platform.

In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Durov accused the FBI of trying to infiltrate the Telegram platform and spy on users.

According to Durov, the FBI approached one of his engineers during a trip to the U.S. in an attempt to turn him into an asset to help setup the backdoor surveillance of the Telegram App.

Here is Durov explaining that alleged incident in his own words in a clip from that interview:

Pavel Durov’s lawyer has spoke out about the arrest, as reported by the BBC:

The lawyer of Telegram chief Pavel Durov, who has been arrested in France, has said his detention is “absolutely ridiculous” and an attack on freedom of speech.

Mr Durov was arrested by French police after his private jet had landed at Le Bourget Airport in Paris on Saturday, French media reported.

According to officials, the 39-year-old billionaire was detained in relation to an investigation about a lack of moderators on Telegram – which it has previously denied.

Mr Durov is accused of failing to take steps to curb criminal uses of Telegram. The app is accused of not cooperating with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud.

His lawyer, Dmitry Agranovsky, told Russian news outlet RIA Novosti that the accusations were similar to blaming a car manufacturer for an accident, or for its cars being used for crimes.

Also from the same BBC article, here is a little background on Durov and the Telegram App:

Pavel Durov was born in Russia and lives in Dubai. He holds dual citizenship of the United Arab Emirates and France.

Telegram is particularly popular in Russia, Ukraine and former Soviet Union states.

The app was banned in Russia in 2018, after a previous refusal by him to hand over user data. The ban was reversed in 2021.

Telegram is ranked as one of the major social media platforms after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.

Pavel Durov founded Telegram in 2013. He left Russia in 2014 after refusing to comply with government demands to shut down opposition communities on his VKontakte social media platform, which he sold.

Also of note, the BBC reports in the same above article that the Russian Embassy in France is seeking to “clarify the reasons for the detention and to provide for the protection of Mr Durov’s rights and facilitate consular access”.

The Russians also apparently pointed out that the French authorities were so far not cooperating with the Russians in their attempt to “clarify” the reason for the detention.

It should be noted that the Telegram App itself has been widely used by both sides of the war in Ukraine, as reported by Reuters:

Telegram is influential in Russia, Ukraine and the republics of the former Soviet Union. It has become a critical source of information on Russia’s war in Ukraine, used heavily by both Moscow and Kyiv officials. Some analysts call the app “a virtual battlefield” for the war.

As I indicated, Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of Rumble, (also at the center of the current censorship tug-of-war between nation states and various technologies), apparently himself barely escaped Europe before he could be arrested!

As Pavlovski noted on the platform X just a few hours ago:

“I’m a little late to this, but for good reason — I’ve just safely departed from Europe. France has threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed a red line by arresting Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, reportedly for not censoring speech. Rumble will not stand for this behavior and will use every legal means available to fight for freedom of expression, a universal human right. We are currently fighting in the courts of France, and we hope for Pavel Durov’s immediate release.”

Highlighting the potential enormity of these arrests and “almost” arrests, even Robert F. Kennedy Jr has weighed in.

With information coming out about a potential “official” position within President Trump’s next administration centering around freedom of speech and the release of long-held government secrets, it is no wonder to me that RFK Jr is passionate about this subject.

Another person who has been embroiled in the issues of free speech and censorship for many years is Edward Snowden – and yes… on the heels of his recent “deal” with the U.S. concerning his part in releasing classified secrets, Snowden has also taken to X to chime in on Durov’s arrest:

It seems to me that the issue of free speech and censorship have been taken up a notch in intensity with wars raging, and rumors of war swirling in the air.

This is still breaking news, and it remains to be seen what the French authorities will do in response to pressure from different directions.

But one thing is certain in my mind – the need for protections against aggressive attempts to control “the narrative” couldn’t be greater than it is right now.

And that war is far from being decided.


 

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