Telegram founder Pavel Durov has finally broken his silence in the first message sent to the public since his high-profile arrest in France in August.
The tech entrepreneur expressed surprise that French authorities arrested him, citing the legal representative Telegram has in France who handles all regulatory requests and inquiries.
Durov, a French citizen, also stated that the French authorities had multiple avenues to reach him without resorting to law enforcement and claimed he was a regular guest at the French Consulate in Dubai.
The Telegram founder then asserted that the company is fully prepared to leave jurisdictions that are hostile to Telegram’s purported mission of free speech and free expression. Durov stated via his Telegram channel:
"We are prepared to leave markets that aren’t compatible with our principles because we are not doing this for money. We are driven by the intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly in places where these rights are violated."
Durov was also critical of France’s decision to charge him personally rather than taking action against the company.
A portion of Durov’s message to followers. Source: Pavel Durov
Related: Breaking: French President Macron denies inviting Pavel Durov to France
Macron denies arrest was political
Shortly following the arrest of Durov, French President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement claiming that Durov’s arrest was not political. However, the statement did little to stem the widespread, international criticism of French authorities for suppression of free speech.
Macron reiterated France’s commitment to freedom of speech and expression, which only drew sharper criticism and brought the issue of free speech into sharper focus. This resulted in calls to free Durov from the TON Society and industry executives.
This backlash against French authorities culminated in Rumble founder and CEO Chris Pavlovski fleeing Europe and cautioning others that France was no longer safe for tech founders with a focus on free speech. Once Pavlovski “safely departed” Europe, he issued the following statement to his followers:
"France has threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed a red line by arresting Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, reportedly for not censoring speech."
The Rumble CEO concluded by emphatically stating that Rumble would use “all available means” to combat these censorship efforts and protect the universal human right to freedom of speech.
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