Posted on 09/28/2025 8:08:53 AM PDT by MinorityRepublican
Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of the Telegram messaging app, accused French intelligence on Sunday of asking him through an intermediary to censor some Moldovan voices ahead of a presidential vote last year in return for help with his court case in France.
Moldovans were voting in a parliamentary election on Sunday that could have a major impact on the government's quest to join the European Union, as a pro-Russian opposition group seeks to steer the nation away from closer ties with the bloc.
France did not immediately comment on the remarks by Durov, who was arrested in 2024 at a French airport. He is under judicial supervision in France while being investigated for suspected organised crime on the app.
Durov denies guilt and has said the accusations by France are "legally and logically absurd".
Durov said on Sunday that while he was stuck in Paris, French intelligence used an intermediary, whom he did not name, to ask him to "censor" some Telegram channels for the Moldovan government.
Durov said "a few that clearly violated our rules" were removed and that the intermediary told him that in exchange for this, French intelligence would "say good things" about him to the judge who ordered his arrest.
"This was unacceptable on several levels," Durov said. "If the agency did in fact approach the judge — it constituted an attempt to interfere in the judicial process."
"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 — a pattern we have also observed in Romania."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Because "shut up" is so wonderful a debate tactic. Like ending the checkers or chess game early by tipping over the board.
More “European Values!”
It's interesting, when hearing / reading that phrase, as so often mouthed by EU poobahs, that the definition of those "values" is never detailed.
Given a few centuries of France and the Napoleons, and Germany with the Kaiser and then Uncle Adolf, one may reasonably argue that one of those European values is war. Going back a little farther in history, another could easily be colonialism. What is certain is that today European values, in part, look like this:
I, along with many other conservatives in my area began to use Telegram in 2021 during the J6 crackdown, and I still use it a lot. One of my favorite sites is the one hosted by Amir Tarfati, who provides news of what’s really happening in the Middle East. Other favorites are Fighting the Commies, Purveyor of Truth, Follow the White Rabbit, We Will Not Comply! and the White Rose.
Here’s his tweet...
https://x.com/durov/status/1972263703149002980
...which has caught Elon Musk’s attention...
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1972275311942267144
Between them, about 50 million views.
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