This is important because in the developing world, and in places where there are current conflicts or war zones, there are features in Telegram that let you send broadcast messages out to a large audience of people. You can think of it like sending a message out on a social media feed,
This is a very significant threat to both privacy and free speech,
In 2021, my company was deplatformed and taken offline as a result of accusations regarding content moderation, which were untrue. Here we're seeing a repeat of these circumstances with what's happening to Telegram, where a very reactionary group of people is putting pressure to both censor content and eradicate privacy from his platform,
This should be a huge story. It's part of the ongoing war on privacy and free speech, globally,
What that does is, in conflict zones or places where free speech isn't respected and people are trying to really fight for their lives,
It's basically just a sign to not just Durov but also the other executives with Telegram that basically, the authorities are keeping an eye on them,
What makes this French action so special is the implications it can potentially have for how these international social media platforms treat people in other countries that have nothing to do with what's happening in France,
It's going to impact Telegram’s ability to raise funds. So the financial viability of the app is going to take a hit,
I think that both the fact that the Kremlin and the military use Telegram, and the fact that Durov does still hold Russian citizenship are both reasons for the Kremlin to come out and to be really vocal against his arrest by the French authorities.”
We don't know all of the details of what they're accusing them of, what they've seen. Until we have those details, it's maybe hard to say whether or not this is extreme,
But Russia's not really the kind of country to be educating other countries on the issue of freedom of speech because of the Kremlin's long history of cracking down on pro-democracy voices, and the banning of non-Russian-developed social media platforms,
I'm sure the French authorities are going to look at that and say if you are going to be the means by which criminal acts take place, then you do have to have to be held accountable,
The main thing is that what is happening in France does not turn into political persecution… certain accusations are being made.
I was absolutely unaware of Mr Durov's arrival in France, and that is quite normal,
Of course, we consider him a Russian citizen and, as much as possible, we will be ready to provide assistance. We will be watching what happens next,
To some extent, it gives this defendant a good deal of leverage — in that if he were to promise cooperation on some of these fronts, there would be a lot of very valuable information that he would have that could be made available to, for example, the French authorities. As a lawyer, I can only speak to the judicial procedure, but what happens behind the scenes may be as influential as the judicial procedure itself,
They are widely perceived as being a scofflaw when it comes to taking down illegal content posted by users. And if that's true, if they were notified of specific content by users that violated the law and they didn't take it down, then they've forfeited immunity under the big EU law on this, the Digital Services Act,
Firstly, Telegram complies in every respect with European digital regulations and is moderated to the same standards as other social networks,
Certainly, there are issues with Twitter [X] failing to respond to government requests, failing to take proper steps to moderate its content. And it's not impossible that you'd see a similar action taken against him personally,
We are in touch with the French authorities about this case and Pavel Durov’s representatives,