This Telgram CEO arrest is going to be a HUGE story:

Pavel Durov, Telegram’s billionaire founder and CEO, was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on August 24, 2024, amid allegations of insufficient content moderation on the messaging platform.

Pavel met with Putin in Baku on August 22 and has been charged with a series of seriously shitty crimes.

Child Porn/Exploitation

Money Laundering

Spying

Refusal to take down child porn

Refusal to give anyone but the Kremlin – who use Telegram via a back door built for them as a condition for Durov’s funding. The Russian military uses Telegram as a military messaging/sharing service and has for over a decade. The Kremlin also uses the Telegram BTC banking system to hustle bad money around the world ON TOP of being the number one purveyor of child porn on the planet.

The Durov arrest is about child pornography, not some grand freedom of speech control ploy. If you can’t see that, you’re so lost in online conspiracies you’ve lost all sense of morality. https://t.co/cobCd11C9Z

— Dr. Ian Garner (@irgarner) August 25, 2024

And Russia seems PISSED OFF about a dissident they exiled getting arrested in the country he was deported to.

Political Reactions

Russia: Russian officials have been particularly vocal, with Vladislav Davankov, the Deputy Speaker of the Russian State Duma, calling for Durov’s immediate release. Davankov suggested that the arrest might be politically motivated and expressed concerns about potential access to Telegram users’ personal information. The Russian Foreign Ministry has also been involved, with spokeswoman Maria Zakharova questioning whether international human rights organizations will pressure France for Durov’s release, similar to their past actions against Russia.

The United States and Europe: U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl criticized the arrest as an attack on free speech. American journalist Tucker Carlson described the arrest as a warning to platforms that resist censorship, suggesting that it reflects a broader trend of diminishing freedoms in Western countries.

What they know and don’t care about is that Durov’s Telegram is a backdoor for the Kremlin to gather information on Russian citizens, spread propaganda, and coordinate their war against democracy and decency worldwide. MTG, Tucker, Elon, and every other MAGAT use “Free Speech” as an excuse to prop up their boys in Russia.

The arrest has also reverberated in the tech and cryptocurrency communities. Elon Musk and Kim Dotcom have voiced concerns about the implications for digital rights and freedoms in Europe. The arrest has impacted the cryptocurrency market, notably causing a significant drop in the value of Toncoin, a cryptocurrency associated with Telegram.

Pavel Durov, known for his faux commitment to privacy and freedom of speech, founded Telegram in 2013 after leaving Russia due to conflicts with the government over his previous venture, VKontakte. Durov “refused” to provide Russian authorities with user data (the FSB cooked that up), leading to his departure from the country. Telegram was designed to offer secure communication, and its encryption features have made it popular among users seeking privacy from governmental surveillance.

Despite its popularity, Telegram has faced criticism for facilitating harmful activities. The platform’s commitment to privacy and minimal content moderation has made it a haven for various groups, including those spreading conspiracy theories, extremist ideologies, and illegal content such as child pornography. This has led to calls for stricter regulation and accountability, as well as lawsuits and charges that Durov has been trying to avoid for years.

Anyone who says Durov’s arrest is an insult to “Freedom of Speech” doesn’t know what he’s been charged with, nor do they understand that Telegram has over 53k child porn ‘groups’ and some of those groups have over 30k members. Or, like Tucker Carlson, Elon Musk, and the Russian government, they know and are cool with it.
The French government is not. They’ve asked Pavel to get rid of it all but haven’t, claiming child exploitation is covered by “Freedom of Speech.”

🚨The founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, was arrested because he refused to deal with Telegram’s child porn/trafficking, money laundering, foreign spy craft problems.
Has nothing to do with freedom of speech. That’s just the boiler plate assholes like Pavel and Elon hide behind.

— Dean Blundell🇨🇦 (@ItsDeanBlundell) August 25, 2024

Those who wish to keep platforms like Telegram unregulated often invoke the concept of “freedom of speech.” However, bad actors can exploit this freedom as an excuse to justify disseminating harmful content so they can commit crimes on that platform. The lack of moderation on Telegram has allowed for:

Racism and Hate Speech: I’m looking at YOU, England. Tommy Robinson started Those race wars on Telegram with some funding from “Europe” facilitated heavily on Telegram Channels. Extremist groups have used Telegram to spread racist ideologies and hate speech, often under the guise of free expression.
Money Laundering and Illegal Activities: The platform’s encryption and anonymity features have been exploited for money laundering and other illegal activities (not covered by the old “freedom of speech” bit).
Child Exploitation: Telegram has been criticized for not doing enough to prevent the spread of child pornography, with some users taking advantage of the platform’s privacy features to share such content.

But Does Telegram Offer Privacy and Security For Users?

LOL. No. Read the account of a woman who fled Russia after authorities SHOWED her their Telegram backdoor, which allowed FSB officers to pinpoint her location within a meter while she was coordinating an anti-Putler rally on Telegram.

This is an excellent account of how Telegram is the official Kremlin app.

If you are only going to read one piece about Telegram+Kremlin – let it be this piece by @tokar_ua for @Textyorgua_Eng, a highly reputable Ukrainian media doing a lot of investigative work and data journalism https://t.co/uV47QbrChN 14/X

— Yaroslav Azhnyuk / Ярослав Ажнюк (@YaroslavAzhnyuk) August 25, 2024

If you saw that last BOURNE movie, you get it. Governments are in bed with big tech and monitor all of us. Telegram is different because it’s a native Russian app funded by the Kremlin to help the Kremlin commit atrocities around the world.

Financial Crimes.

Child exploitation.

War atrocities.

Global destabalization.

None of that is covered by free speech; this is Pavel’s house, so he’s responsible. And he probably feels better about working with the French against his old Russian sugar daddies, so I bet we’re in for a treat.

I like the “house reference” regarding “freedom of speech”:

Pretend Telegram is Pavel’s house, with many different rooms occupied by many other people. If there was illegality in several of those rooms, those crimes are still crimes even though they happened on private property. He can’t claim “freedom of house” and declare his house a safe zone for illegal behavior. Preventing authorities from looking into that house knowing there is illegality is also illegal. Especially when the police spend months warning you that they want the illegal activity to stop or you’ll get arrested.

This is a watershed moment for big tech, messaging services, and social media. Twitter and FB are being accused of similar issues, and the free and democratic world looks like they’re getting ready to bring some accountability to “free speech.”

The EU and England are coming for Elon Musk, too. I hope America makes Zuckerberg waterboarding a PPV event.

Cause, meet effect.

And anyone who cries about “freedom of speech” where Mr Durov is concerned is just scared their illegality and gaslighting will end soon, too.