TON Community releases an official statement following Telegram founder Pavel Durov’s arrest.
Durov was arrested in France and he’s expected to appear in court today.
Telegram founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France, at the Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, according to data, cited by The Guardian. He was reportedly traveling from Azerbaijan and was arrested at 8 pm local time.
He reportedly faces 20 years in prison for refusing to censor his platform.
The Russia-born entrepreneur lives in Dubai, where Telegram is based, and he has dual citizenship in France and the UAE. He is expected to appear in court later today, according to data from France 24.
Official Statement from the TON Community – A Call for Unity
The team behind TON released an official statement following Durov’s arrest via their X account.
They assured everyone that the TON community remains strong and fully operational. TON also said that as a community committed to freedom of speech and decentralization, they stand firmly by Pavel during this challenging time.
Telegram’s CEO has been a dedicated advocate for these values and the TON community believes his efforts to promote an open and decentralized Internet will continue to inspire millions.
The TON community remains focused on its main mission and will continue to work to keep these principles globally.
The team encourages everyone to remain calm and united and keep building as this situation will be overcome.
Massive Support via X for Durov
On X, Durov’s arrest triggered intense reactions and massive support from free-speech believers.
Elon Musk showed his support for Durov, calling for his freedom, and he shared a video featuring the Telegram CEO during an interview with Tucker Carlson. In the interview, Durov speaks about Musk and his platform X which fights for innovation, free speech, giving power to creators, and more.
Musk’s followers thanked him for his support, saying that if this happened to Telegram, it could also happen to X.
Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin, also highlighted that the arrest of Telegram’s CEO is a threat to freedom.
“I’ve criticized Telegram before for not being serious with encryption,” he said and continued by stating that 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,” Buterin added.
Florian Philippot, a French politician, and former member of the European Parliament, also mentioned that Durov was placed in provisional detention and risks 20 years in prison. He noted that all this is happening for “lack of moderation, cooperation with law enforcement, because of the tools offered by Telegram (disposable number, crypto.).”
Philippot reportedly warned that tomorrow, we might see Elon Musk imprisoned if he sets foot in France for disobedience to the European DSA censorship regulations.
Durov: The Largest Pressure on Telegram is Not From Governments
During the interview with Tucker Carlson mentioned by Musk via X, Durov said that the largest pressure on Telegram is not coming from governments but from Apple and Google.
According to him, when it comes to freedom of speech, these two platforms can basically censor whatever people can read or access via their smartphones.
This wouldn’t be a small issue for Telegram because a large portion of the world’s population would lose access to a valuable tool they use every day.
In the same interview, Durov also addressed the decreased tolerance of governmental agencies for people’s privacy via Internet monitoring.
Durov believes that Bitcoin and crypto-like innovative technologies can ensure ways to fight against the tyrannical monitoring of people’s Internet activity that breaks the fundamental right to privacy.
The whole crypto community shows strength and unity in the fight against censorship and supports Telegram’s founder.
Founded back in 2013 by Pavel Durov and Nikolai Durov, Telegram is a highly secure and encrypted instant messaging platform that offers people freedom and privacy in a world that sees a global fight against fundamental human rights.
