The creator of a social media platform with a billion monthly active users warned that the same country prosecuting him for speech on his platform pressured him to interfere in a European election.
Telegram CEO and Founder Pavel Durov said that France pressured him to “silence conservative voices” in Romania during a redo election for an election in which the anti-European Union candidate won. France arrested Durov in August 2024. He is facing up to a decade in prison and is currently only allowed to leave the country with special permission. Nevertheless, Durov turned down this reported request from his captors. In a May 18 post on X, Durov wrote, “I flatly refused. Telegram will not restrict the freedoms of Romanian users or block their political channels.”