On Wednesday, French judicial authorities indicted Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on six preliminary charges relating to illicit activity on the messaging app.
The case against Durov has sparked a global backlash since charging the head of a tech platform for the activity of its users has chilling implications for free speech.
One of the preliminary charges is for “managing an online platform to allow illicit transactions by an organized group,” which could lead to up to ten years in prison and a 500,000 euro fine. Durov is also accused of not cooperating with investigations into illegal activity on Telegram.
The investigation into Durov is expected to take months or even years, and if judicial authorities don’t find enough evidence, they could drop the preliminary charges.
Durov, a Russian-born citizen of France and the UAE, was released on a 5 million euro bail on Wednesday. He is not allowed to leave France and must check in at a police station twice a week.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that in 2018, Durov had lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, who invited Durov to move Telegram, which is based in Abu Dhabi, to Paris. The report also revealed that in 2017, French spies targeted Durov in a joint operation with the UAE to hack his phone.
Pavel has said he left Russia in 2014 due to pressure from the government to share information about users of VK, a social media platform he also founded. The Telegram CEO has also faced pressure from the US government.
Earlier this year, Pavel told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson he had faced pressure from the FBI during visits to the US. He said one of his engineers was approached by US government officials who wanted to hire him as part of an effort to give the US a back door into Telegram to access user data, similar to how US intelligence agencies have access to American tech platforms.
Spying bastards never sleep.
The irrepressible genetic heritage of America's omni-prurient sicko voyeur, Dir. J. Edgar Hoover.
It is amusing when people talk about the FBI becoming corrupt. Since its inception, the FBI has always served as the federal political police serving whoever controls The Yankee Empire.
Exactly -vide Palmer Raids. Lavrentiy Beria and the NKVD come off favorably by comparison.
Nor the censors. Which is the aim.
https://x.com/NerdeenKiswani/status/1828963039044841624#
Nerdeen Kiswani ® @NerdeenKiswani
We planned a fundraiser for Doctors against genocide to provide support to a maternal care hospital in Gaza + an ambulance and more medical equipment to the West Bank, and @eventbrite took it down due to "risk of harm or inciting violence"
We can't even send medical support..
Long Live Freedom of the Press! Which indeed, is why many of us are here at antiwar.com!
Almost 1 billion members and he is responsible for their transgressions?
French law seems a little biased.
https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1828854144003703041#
Max Blumenthal@MaxBlumenthal
It seems obvious the Kamala campaign is using the Biden White House to issue censorship demands to social media companies. That's why Chris's post was removed, our stream from DNC protests got a strike, and Amazon even removed @RealCalebMaupin's book on Kamala.
As we saw thanks to files obtained through discovery in Missouri v. Biden, the Biden White House began its censorship crusade during the Covid event, prompting mass removals of accounts that questioned The Science, including a Fauci parody account on IG.
TG, Rumble and X haven't complied with these sorts of demands, and their owners are now being hounded.
Chris Hedges @ChrisLynnHedges
This video was removed on TikTok for "hate speech" – but when trying to submit an appeal, TikTok doesn't allow us to explain why we appeal the ruling. Does anyone know if this is normal, or should we typically be allowed to explain why our video doesn't violate the community guidelines?
It’s early so it hasn’t been released from moderation yet, but Chris Hedges’ video was removed from tiktok for “hate speech”.
All of this is to kill off dissent.
Well said good ED!
If they didn't lock a tracker on him like they did on Assange, he should be smuggled out of France right away…!
You are suppressing pimping, receiving stolen goods, terrorism, criminal association, connivance, favouritism, obstruction of justice in criminal law, e.g. Art. 225-5-8, 321-1-2, 6; 421-1, 434-6, 7-2; 450-1 Code pénal France.
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/codes/texte_lc/LEGITEXT000006070719/ Code pénal
You glorify capitalism.
https://www.euronews.com/next/2024/08/26/who-is-pavel-durov-the-telegram-co-founder-arrested-in-france
He doesn't seem to be "suppressing" anything.
But you do seem to support "suppressing" any tools that could conceivably be used in bad ways. Which makes it surprising that you have a computer and Internet connection. Or are rules just for the other people?
I don't understand your opinion regarding tools. Is there a world without rules? I, for example, don't use social media, but inform myself in primary, professional sources of political, economic, technological and scientific resources on the Internet or in university libraries in order to articulate my right to freedom of opinion within its limits (without insult, defamation, vulgar, faecal speech, disinformation, fake news, etc.).
The right to freedom of opinion has no limits.
What’s limited is some people’s respect for that absolute right.
"Police operations within a totalitarian state often appear similar to those within a police state, but one important difference distinguishes them. In a police state, the police operate according to known and consistent procedures. In a totalitarian state, the police operate outside the constraints of laws and regulations, and their actions are purposefully unpredictable. Under Hitler and Stalin, uncertainty was interwoven into the affairs of the state. The German constitution of the Weimar Republic was never abrogated under Hitler, but an enabling act passed by the Reichstag in 1933 permitted him to amend the constitution at will, in effect nullifying it. The role of lawmaker became vested in one person. Similarly, Stalin provided a constitution for the Soviet Union in 1936 but never permitted it to become the framework of Soviet law. Instead, he was the final arbiter in the interpretation of Marxism–Leninism–Stalinism and changed his interpretations at will. Neither Hitler nor Stalin permitted change to become predictable, thus increasing the sense of terror among the people and repressing any dissent."
https://www.britannica.com/topic/totalitarianism
We have a security state with “elected”puppets to do the work here, in the service of oligarchs.
French persecution, courtesy of U.S. Department. Move along folks. Nothing to see here.
Telegram's registered office is in Dubai and not in Abu Dhabi. The accusations of the French judiciary against the media owner and manager of Telegram do not affect freedom of opinion.
https://telegram.org/faq?setln=en#q-where-is-telegram-based