By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
PARIS/DUBAI/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday there was no political motive behind the arrest of Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of the social media platform and messaging application Telegram.
Macron’s comments on social media platform X were the first presidential confirmation of Durov’s arrest, nearly two days after he was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris after landing on a private jet from Azerbaijan.
“The arrest of the Telegram president on French territory took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation,” Macron wrote. “This is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to decide.”
Police said Durov is under investigation by the national cybercrime and fraud offices for failing to cooperate regarding cyber and financial crimes on Telegram, a popular messaging and social media “app” similar to WhatsApp.
However, Telegram and its detained chief executive, Durov, suggested that the detention was part of broader European Union efforts to censor content threatening the EU narrative.
“Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving. Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” Telegram said on its news channel.
“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform. Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as a means of communication and as a source of vital information.”
PROMPT SOLUTION?
Dubai-based Telegram told its users, “We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”
Durov also blamed traditional media for the growing pressure on platforms such as Telegram. “All large social media apps are easy targets for criticism due to the content they host. I can’t recall any major social platform whose moderation has been consistently praised by traditional media,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
“The media coverage of Meta’s moderation efforts has been particularly negative for most of its history. Interestingly enough, Meta was also the first social media company to have reached a trillion-dollar-plus valuation,” he recalled.
“Telegram will likely have to go through similar growth stages before it surpasses legacy platforms. As we rapidly rise in scale and significance, we shall solve any potential challenges the same way we do everything else — with efficiency, innovation, and respect for privacy and freedom of speech.”
The Russian embassy in Paris said that French authorities had declined to cooperate with its requests for consular access but added it was in contact with Durov’s lawyer.
Moscow said it was still awaiting the charges against Durov. “We do not yet know what exactly Durov is accused of,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“With what exactly are they trying to incriminate Durov? Without [knowing], it would probably be wrong to make any statements,” Peskov added.
The controversy comes at a time of the worst East-West tensions since the collapse of the Moscow-led Soviet Union in the early 1990s following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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