On Sunday, Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of Telegram, accused French intelligence of pressuring him to silence Moldovan voices on his platform in exchange for leniency in his ongoing court case in France.
Durov Claims Censorship Request During Moldovan Vote
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Durov said that about a year ago while he was restricted in Paris under judicial supervision, an intermediary approached him on behalf of French intelligence.
According to Durov, the agency asked him to "censor" certain Telegram channels at the request of the Moldovan government, coinciding with Sunday's parliamentary election that could determine the country's path toward the EU.
Durov said he complied only with removing "a few" channels that "clearly violated our rules."
However, he claimed the intermediary promised that in exchange, French intelligence would "say good things" to the judge overseeing his case.
“If the agency did in fact approach the judge -- it constituted an attempt to interfere in the judicial process," Durov wrote. "If it did not, and merely claimed to have done so, then it was exploiting my legal situation in France to influence political developments in Eastern Europe…."
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France Pushes Back On Durov's Allegations
The French foreign ministry dismissed the accusations, pointing out that Durov had made similar claims earlier this year regarding Romanian elections.
"After Romania, Moldova. @durov likes making accusations while elections are ongoing," the ministry said in a post on X.
In May, Durov had alleged that France's foreign intelligence agency had requested bans on Romanian conservative voices. The agency denied those claims at the time.
Durov's Legal Troubles In France
Durov was taken into custody by French authorities in August over allegations that he failed to adequately moderate Telegram to curb criminal activity.
He has rejected claims that he did not cooperate with law enforcement regarding drug trafficking, child sexual abuse material, and fraud. Telegram has also denied accusations of insufficient moderation.
This marked the first instance of a tech executive being arrested over crimes linked to activity on their platform.
In March, Durov was permitted to return to Dubai while French prosecutors continued to pursue their landmark case against him, reported the BBC.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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