French intelligence sought Telegram's help to censor Moldovan channels

French intelligence services contacted an intermediary about a year ago, seeking assistance from Telegram to censor certain channels ahead of the presidential elections in Moldova. The request was made while the intermediary was in Paris.

After reviewing the flagged channels, Telegram identified several that violated its rules and removed them. The intermediary subsequently informed Telegram that, in exchange for this cooperation, French intelligence would provide positive remarks to the judge who had ordered the arrest of a Telegram representative in August of the previous year.

This proposal was met with strong objections, as it raised concerns about potential interference in the judicial process. If the agency did approach the judge, it would constitute an attempt to influence legal proceedings. Conversely, if the claim was false, it would indicate an exploitation of the legal situation in France to sway political developments in Eastern Europe, a pattern also observed in Romania.

Following this incident, Telegram received a second list of “problematic” Moldovan channels. Unlike the first list, nearly all channels on this second list were deemed legitimate and compliant with Telegram"s rules. The only commonality among these channels was that they expressed political views disfavored by the French and Moldovan governments.

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Telegram refused to act on the request to censor these channels, reaffirming its commitment to freedom of speech and stating it will not remove content for political reasons. The company plans to continue exposing any attempts to pressure it into censorship.