Telegram's Pavel Durov reveals French intelligence attempted to influence Moldovan elections

Pavel Durov, CEO and founder of Telegram, revealed that French intelligence services contacted him approximately a year ago while he was in Paris. They requested his assistance in censoring certain Telegram channels ahead of the presidential elections in Moldova.

After reviewing the channels flagged by the French and Moldovan authorities, Durov stated that Telegram identified a few that violated their rules and subsequently removed them. An intermediary informed him that, in return for this cooperation, French intelligence would provide favorable comments to the judge who had ordered his arrest in August of the previous year.

Durov expressed that this situation was unacceptable, stating that if the agency did approach the judge, it would constitute an attempt to interfere in the judicial process. Conversely, if they did not approach the judge and merely claimed to have done so, it would indicate an exploitation of his legal situation in France to influence political developments in Eastern Europe.

Following this, Telegram received a second list of so-called “problematic” Moldovan channels. Durov noted that nearly all of these channels were legitimate and compliant with their rules, with the commonality being that they expressed political views disfavored by the French and Moldovan governments. Telegram refused to act on this request.

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Durov reaffirmed that Telegram is committed to freedom of speech and will not remove content for political reasons. He stated that he will continue to expose any attempts to pressure Telegram into censoring its platform.

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