The arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov in France aligns with a broader policy of using maximum pressure to control alternative media platforms, according to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
He made the remarks on Monday during his address at the 11th summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). Maduro noted that the ALBA meeting was being broadcast on the Telegram platform.
This is “despite the fact that their president [Telegram CEO Pavel Durov] was taken into custody as part of this policy of persecution, maximum pressure, blackmail, arm-twisting of alternative social and communication networks,” Maduro stated, adding that “power is abused across the world. They persecute in order to subjugate.”
Durov was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday immediately after arriving from Azerbaijan by private jet. The Russian entrepreneur is also a citizen of France, the UAE, and St. Kitts and Nevis.
The French judicial authorities have twice extended Durov’s detention. The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office has stated that he was arrested as part of a broad criminal inquiry in relation to an unnamed person.
French President Emmanuel Macron has denied that there was any political motive behind Durov’s arrest, stating on Monday that it had taken place as part of “an ongoing judicial investigation.”
Durov has previously stated that his commitment to user privacy has made him a target for intelligence agencies. In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson earlier this year, Durov said he had rejected requests from Washington to share user data with US authorities or build so-called surveillance “backdoors” into the platform.
Telegram is a popular messaging app with nearly a billion users globally. It offers end-to-end encryption, enhancing privacy for both sender and recipient, and generally refuses to provide user data or chat records to law enforcement. According to Durov, Telegram respects the rights of its users to privacy and freedom of expression.
The tech mogul’s arrest has sparked strong reactions and concern over the future of free speech, with X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk describing it as “dangerous times” and calling for Durov to be released. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has compared the case to the persecution of Edward Snowden and Julian Assange.
Snowden, a whistleblower who revealed the extent of NSA spying on Americans and foreign leaders back in 2012, has accused France of holding Durov “hostage” in order to access private communications on Telegram.