Durov’s Russian, and an interesting guy. He refused to cooperate when Russia asked him for user information, for example. He appears to believe in the principle of freedom of speech, which is radical at this point. Telegram was banned in Russia from 2018 to 2021.
As most people know Telegram is where most uncensored information on the Russia-Ukraine and Gaza wars are to be found. Some of it, perhaps even a lot of it is bullshit, but if one really wants to know what’s happening, Telegram is one of the better places to find out, though it takes judgment and discretion. There are certainly Telegram channels which are far more accurate and honest than any major Western press outlet, just as there are those that are sewers of propaganda and lies.
France claims the arrest is because Telegram doesn’t moderate in line with EU law, which is probably true. The laws, however, are bad laws which make freedom of speech essentially impossible. The idea of misinformation has been weaponized to mean “what the government says is true” and since most governments are lying about both wars, well…
As Truman said, “I don’t give them Hell. I just tell the truth about them, and they think it’s Hell.”
Telegram is one of the few places left which somewhat lives up to the promise of the early internet of a place without censors or gatekeepers, where anyone could have their say. It’s understandable that governments and powerful people don’t want that, before the internet you could only be heard by large numbers of the gatekeepers would let you, and mostly they don’t. Youngs don’t remember that world, but it felt like there was constantly a gag on: there could be no honest speech which wasn’t approved.
There’s no sense in pretending it’s all upside, it isn’t, but the downsides are the price of actually allowing meaningful freedom of speech. In the old days we just didn’t hear from those the gatekeepers wouldn’t let thru. Oh, there were some exceptions, but they were exceptions.
So fuck France and fuck Macron. Just another fascist neoliberal who wants to remove freedoms and use them to enable war and genocide.
As for Pavel, he made a mistake traveling in Europe. It’s a hard balancing beam he’s on. Though Russia’s currently supportive, as Telegram is a way for their side to get their message out, they haven’t always been. There’s really no major free speech country left, and the fact is that even CEOs are at the mercy of states. You need a state to protect you, and there isn’t really a trustworthy one around any more.