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Telegram founder accuses EU of signalling out apps resisting censorship
(MENAFN) Telegram founder Pavel Durov accused the European Union of unfairly singling out social media platforms that allow critical or dissenting speech.
His comments followed a 2024 post by Elon Musk, owner of X, who alleged that the European Commission had offered the platform a secret arrangement to avoid fines in exchange for censoring certain content. The EU fined X €120 million ($140 million) the day before.
Durov claimed that the EU enforces strict and often impossible rules on tech companies as a means of punishing those that refuse to quietly censor speech. “The EU imposes impossible rules so it can punish tech firms that refuse to silently censor free speech,” he wrote on X on Saturday.
He also referenced his detention in France last year, which he described as politically motivated. According to Durov, French intelligence officials requested that he “ban conservative voices in Romania” ahead of an election, a claim French authorities denied. He added that intelligence agents offered assistance with his legal case if Telegram removed channels linked to Moldova’s election.
In his latest post, Durov reiterated both allegations, describing the investigation as “a baseless criminal investigation” followed by pressure to restrict speech in Romania and Moldova.
Later on Saturday, he wrote: “The EU exclusively targets platforms that host inconvenient or dissenting speech (Telegram, X, TikTok…). Platforms that algorithmically silence people are left largely untouched, despite far more serious illegal content issues.”
His comments followed a 2024 post by Elon Musk, owner of X, who alleged that the European Commission had offered the platform a secret arrangement to avoid fines in exchange for censoring certain content. The EU fined X €120 million ($140 million) the day before.
Durov claimed that the EU enforces strict and often impossible rules on tech companies as a means of punishing those that refuse to quietly censor speech. “The EU imposes impossible rules so it can punish tech firms that refuse to silently censor free speech,” he wrote on X on Saturday.
He also referenced his detention in France last year, which he described as politically motivated. According to Durov, French intelligence officials requested that he “ban conservative voices in Romania” ahead of an election, a claim French authorities denied. He added that intelligence agents offered assistance with his legal case if Telegram removed channels linked to Moldova’s election.
In his latest post, Durov reiterated both allegations, describing the investigation as “a baseless criminal investigation” followed by pressure to restrict speech in Romania and Moldova.
Later on Saturday, he wrote: “The EU exclusively targets platforms that host inconvenient or dissenting speech (Telegram, X, TikTok…). Platforms that algorithmically silence people are left largely untouched, despite far more serious illegal content issues.”
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