The arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France has caused lots of rumors and responses throughout the world. The general excitement can be easily explained as it is about someone who owns the planet’s most popular and independent messenger.
In Russia, the mainstream sentiment has already shaped as regards Durov’s arrest by the French authorities. Many explain the move with [Dmitry Medvedev’s] thesis that "for all our common enemies now, he is Russian — and therefore unpredictable and dangerous." Many experts call this "an act of hostility against Russia."
Undoubtedly, Russia is being hurt in this way either, though indirectly. It seems not about Durov being a Russian native which allegedly means toxic to the West right away. He is no longer Russian, considering himself a globally-minded citizen of the world. He received passports of France, Saint Kitts and Nevis (Caribbean Islands), and left for the UAE, a country with all the opportunities for his business to flourish unhindered.
The fact is that regardless of how people treat Durov, his Telegram has by now been perhaps the world’s only information exchange platform to be freely used by anyone.
As officially stated, France believes that Telegram's insufficient moderation, its encryption tools, and refusal to cooperate with the police make Durov "an accomplice illegal drug trafficking, crimes against children, and fraud." But that's not the point, of course. The French-brought charges against him to become the reason for his arrest are a mere pretext and formality.
The main thing about Durov's business is that Telegram is free from all the government and other kinds of influence. Hence the ever–growing popularity of Telegram among billions of users around the world. It is associated with freedom of speech at a time when its peers are controlled by American and other countries’ special services. In this capacity and under such terms, Telegram has become a serious geopolitical factor.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this year, Pavel Durov told in detail that the reason behind his departure from Russia lies in the fact that he did not want to give "keys" to his messenger to our competent authorities. He also bluntly told Carlson that during his visits to the United States, he experienced "increased attention" from local intel in their quest for "various details" in order to "control" Telegram. Durov said they even tried to "infiltrate" the platform by recruiting the messenger’s chief engineer. And, according to Durov, the only place where he could escape attention of various special services was the UAE, where he moved to live and do business.
Regardless of our attitude to Durov and his own ambiguous (mildly put) attitude towards Russia, his arrest in France is regarded as the West’s direct encroachment on freedom of speech.
Tucker Carlson commented upon this move by the French authorities the following way: "Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company, Telegram. But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech. It was a western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic NATO member, that locked him away."
The globalists use official Paris as a proxy to pull off the same combination as with Meta* owner Mark Zuckerberg. As you know, he surrendered all but right away when the FBI came to him seeking cooperation. "Instagram* has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck, as he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data," Elon Musk wrote after Durov's arrest in France.
Edward Snowden, a former US intelligence officer living in Russia, who exposed American intel’s total surveillance of information communications all around the world, has echoed both Carlson and Musk. "The arrest of Pavel Durov is an assault on the basic human rights of speech and association. I am surprised and deeply saddened that Macron has descended to the level of taking hostages as a means for gaining access to private communications. It lowers not only France, but the world," Snowden posted on X.
Durov's fate seems sad. He will either hand over Telegram to Western intelligence agencies or go to prison until eventually exchanging his brainchild for freedom anyway. He may even be offered to remain the platform’s owner and promised to never be disturbed again. To get the much-anticipated "keys" to Telegram, they may offer him all the possible support and a "piece of power over the world", or simply intimidate with a "heart attack", which Durov may "suddenly die from." In such a case, what is the response going to be?
The globalists have long focused on establishing control over the global information sphere. Their efforts to fool humanity lose their meaning when there are independent information platforms. Pavel Durov’s release in the coming days will imply that Telegram has de facto changed its owner or, at least, that it now has an unofficial censor in the West.
* Russia deems Meta company (Facebook, Instagram) as extremist and has banned its activity.
