Free Pavel Durov and protect freedom of speech
Open Letter
France: The arrest of the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, is a direct assault on the basic human right – the freedom of expression of everyone.
We strongly condemn the arrest of Mr. Pavel Durov by the French authorities, a blatant attack on the freedom of expression and the right to private life.
We call upon France to immediately release Mr. Durov and to respect the social media platform’s right to protect the freedom of expression, privacy of its users, and right to private life. We also call on the United Nations (UN), the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union (EU), and other concerned governments to challenge France’s actions and uphold the fundamental right to liberty online. Lastly, we call on all tech and social media platforms to resist baseless and extra-judicial orders that violate the rights of their users, which must be defended at all costs.
Durov’s Wall
Elon Musk
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Vitalik Buterin
I've criticized Telegram before for not being serious with encryption.
But (given the info available so far: the charge seems to be just being "unmoderated" and not giving up people's data), this looks very bad and worrying for the future of software and comms freedom in Europe.
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Edward Snowden
The arrest of @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.
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Tucker Carlson
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. Pavel Durov sits in a French jail tonight, a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies. Darkness is descending fast on the formerly free world.
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Paul Graham
It's hard to imagine a country both arresting the founder of Telegram and being a major startup hub.