Pavel Durov, founder of social media platform Telegram, said he had “completely rejected” the Western European government’s demand to censor conservative political content. In a telegram post on May 18th, Durove wrote:
“Telegram does not limit the freedoms of Romanian users or block political channels.”
The demand for censorship has come before today’s Romanian presidential election. Mathematician Nixon Dunn became the liberal mayor of Bucharest and today defeated right-wing nationalist opponent George Simion to become Romania’s president.
Allegations of interference in France
In his post, Doloff did not explicitly name the country that sought censorship. However, he hinted at it with baguette emojis, and naturally pointed to France. Doloff wrote:
“We cannot “protect democracy” by destroying democracy. You cannot “fight election interference” by obstructing elections. They have either free speech or fair elections.
However, according to a BBC report, France argued that the allegations of interference were “completely unfounded.” This led Doloff to openly name France and its requesting representatives.
In a later post in X, Doloff said he met with French intelligence director Nicholas Lerner at Salon des Bataille in Hotel des Crillon. At the meeting, Lerner asked Doloff to “ban” conservative political content on Telegram ahead of the Romanian election.
Durov added that Telegram does not interfere with the rights of protesters in Russia, Belarus or Iran and “will not start that in Europe.”
After Dan’s victory, French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron announced in the X-Post that he had called Dan to congratulate him, but he did not deny that there were attempts to manipulate the election results. While pledging France’s support, Macron wrote:
“Despite many attempts at manipulation, the Romanians chose democracy, the rule of law, and the European Union tonight.”
After being arrested in France last year, Doloff has been in the spotlight
After French authorities arrested Durov in August 2024, he became prominent in the crypto community and evaluated his attitudes on freedom of speech, privacy and personal freedom. French prosecutors accused Durov of complicit in promoting crimes such as child pornography and telegram drug trafficking.
The crypto community condemned the arrest in an open letter, accusing the French government of violating human rights. The next day, Durov was given a bail of 5 million euros and placed under judicial supervision. In March, a French court granted Doloff’s request to amend his bail terms and granted him a few weeks of leave.
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