Former NSA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden made a strong defense of Telegram's founder Pavel Durov after his arrest, declaring the act a "violation of fundamental human rights" to freedom of speech and association.
Snowden took to his microblogging site X, formerly Twitter, to denounce French government action, saying that this incident shows everyone that it is not only the reputation of France at stake but of the global community as a whole. "The arrest of @Durov is a grave violation of the fundamental human rights of freedom of speech and association. It is disheartening to see French President Emmanuel Macron resorting to hostage-taking to access private communications. This action diminishes not only France but the entire world," Snowden said.
According to local media, Durov was detained right after his private jet had landed at Le Bourget Airport in France. The 39-year-old tech billionaire is being sought by an arrest warrant on the grounds of problems surrounding his messaging app, which enjoys very high popularity.
Durov created Telegram in 2013 but was forced to leave Russia in 2014 following his refusal to shut down opposition groups on his VKontakte social media platform that were protesting actions by President Vladimir Putin. He lives in Dubai, where he has set up the headquarters for Telegram and holds dual citizenship in France and the UAE.
As of August 25, Durov was estimated to be the 120th richest person in the world on Forbes' real-time billionaires list, while Forbes wrote in 2022 that he is the richest expat in the UAE.
He was supposed to appear in court on Sunday, facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted. On the side of Telegram, there has been complete silence, but the Russian Embassy in France says it is seeking an explanation for the situation. Telegram is an end-to-end encrypted messaging service known for its feature that allows users to create "channels" enabling fast dissemination.
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