Telegram Founder Is Arrested In France For Allowing Free Speech On His Platform

Posted • August 26, 2024: On Saturday, we reported on the CEO of messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, getting taken into custody at a French airport by government officials, on an arrest warrant accusing the website of failing to moderate content that was allegedly used in criminal activity. This is a concerning threat to free speech when a government will do something like that and it's a threat to any social media platform. If they can do it to Telegram they can to it to X. We've already seen various efforts to go after Elon Musk. But this type of move is especially troubling when a CEO is arrested like this.

X CEO Elon Musk spoke out against the arrest, tweeting "Free Pavel" and posting some of what Durov talking about the changes on X and the importance of being pro-freedom of speech from a Tucker Carlson interview in April. -- The social media app Telegram has over 900 million users around the world. Its founder Pavel Durov sat down with us at his offices in Dubai for his first on-camera interview in almost a decade. (…)

• More at: RedState - Elon and Tucker Speak Up for Pavel Durov and the Present Danger to Free Speech
https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2024/08/25/elon-musk-speaks-up-for-pavel-durov-n2178528
Twitchy: What Is Happening to England? Man Arrested for Waving English Flag
https://twitchy.com/artistangie/2024/08/24/england-arrest-for-waiving-english-flag-n2400072
AP News: French authorities arrest Telegram CEO Pavel Durov at a Paris airport, French media report
https://apnews.com/article/france-russia-telegram-paris-durov-arrest-63cd8e5663c6b6f3404745866d662954
Twitchy: Alex Vindman Struts His Authoritarian Stuff: 'Musk Should Be Nervous'
https://twitchy.com/gordon-kushner/2024/08/25/alex-vindman-n2400121