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Technology|Telegram Becomes Free Speech Flashpoint After Reports of Founder’s Arrest
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/25/technology/pavel-durov-telegram-detained-france.html
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Pavel Durov, the founder of the app, which has more than 900 million users, was taken into custody by the French authorities, the French news media reported.
Aug. 25, 2024Updated 3:41 p.m. ET
Telegram, founded in 2013 by the Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, has grown into one of the world’s largest online communication tools and is central to everyday life in countries like Russia, Ukraine and India for messaging, getting independent news and exchanging views.
The company’s growth — it now has more than 900 million users — has been driven partly by a commitment to free speech. Telegram’s light oversight of what people say or do on the platform has helped people living under authoritarian governments communicate and organize. But it has also made the app a haven for disinformation, far-right extremism and other harmful content.
Many were shocked when reports emerged on Saturday that Mr. Durov had been arrested in France on charges related to the spread of illicit material on the service. As word spread online, his reported detention became a flashpoint in a continuing debate about free speech on the internet.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, which has adopted a similarly hands-off approach to content moderation, posted “#FreePavel” on his X account. “It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme,” he also said.
Leonid Volkov, formerly a top adviser to Aleksei A. Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in prison last year, wrote on Telegram that although the platform had become a useful tool for criminals, Mr. Durov should be released. “Durov is not an ‘accomplice’ to the crimes committed by Telegram users,” he said.
The reaction over the news of the arrest showed how concerns about free expression, censorship and government oversight of online content are rising at a time when regulatory scrutiny of speech on the internet around the world has ramped up. National governments, especially those in the European Union, have intensified pressure on companies to address disinformation, online extremism, child safety and the spread of illicit material.
