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Elon Musk Backs Telegram’s Pavel Durov for Upholding Free Speech

Elon Musk shared Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's previous interview where he exposes US government's intimidating tactics to peep into the app.
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Elon Musk Backs Telegram’s Pavel Durov for Upholding Free Speech

Highlights

  • Elon Musk has publicly supported the Telegram CEO, praising him for resisting government censorship.
  • Analysts warn that other platforms like Elon Musk's X and Rumble could become future targets for government censorship.
  • Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski also expressed concern over the implications.

Following Telegram CEO Pavel Durov’s arrest in France on Saturday, tech billionaire Elon Musk has come out in support of Durov, praising him for upholding free speech and not giving up on the government’s censorship pressure. Musk has been championing free speech for quite some time and it was one of the key reasons behind purchasing Twitter back in October 2022.

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Elon Musk’s Support to Telegram CEO

A number of industry leaders have come out in support of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, following his arrest on charges of allowing illicit and criminal activities on the Telegram messaging app. The arrest soon led to the downfall in the Toncoin price, which is now trading 16.33% down at $5.69 as of press time.

Elon Musk also shared one of the old interviews Durov with American journalist Tucker Carlson, wherein Durov explained the intimidating tactics of the US Government and the FBI to poach one of the engineers of Telegram and give them behind-the-curtains access to the messaging app. He said that the officials were trying to persuade the engineer to integrate some open-source tools into Telegram, which would give them backdoor access.

While Elon Musk and other industry tech players have been supporting Durov, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been tight-lipped on this matter so far. Musk also slammed Zuckerberg in response to a tweet that questioned why aren’t authorities arresting Zuck for enabling child predator accounts on the Instagram platform. Responding to it, Musk wrote:

“Because he already caved into censorship pressure. Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck, as he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data”.

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Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Backs Durov

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has also backed the Telegram CEO saying that he had previously banned Durov for not being serious with encryption. However, he added that the charges on Durov are unmoderated and “looks very bad and worrying for the future of software and comms freedom in Europe”.

One of the users on the X platform also stated that despite the fact that top messaging apps like WhatsApp and iMessage have end-to-end encryption, they provide backdoor access to the government. Responding to this, Vitalik said: “This is why we need open source and formal verification of security properties”. Vitalik Buterin has been a strong proponent of decentralized technology explaining how Ethereum is taking effective measures in that direction.

Some market analysts also predict that Elon Musk’s X and video platform Rumble are the next targets for government agencies. Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of online video platform Rumble, stated that France has crossed the Red line and he has decided to depart from Europe. In a message on the X platform, Pavlovski wrote:

“I’m a little late to this, but for good reason — I’ve just safely departed from Europe. France has threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed a red line by arresting Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, reportedly for not censoring speech. Rumble will not stand for this behavior and will use every legal means available to fight for freedom of expression, a universal human right. We are currently fighting in the courts of France, and we hope for Pavel Durov’s immediate release”.

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Bhushan Akolkar

Bhushan is a seasoned crypto writer with over eight years of experience spanning more than 10,000 contributions across multiple platforms like CoinGape, CoinSpeaker, Bitcoinist, Crypto News Flash, and others. Being a Fintech enthusiast, he loves reporting across Crypto, Blockchain, DeFi, Global Macros with a keen understanding in financial markets. 

He is committed to continuous learning and stays motivated by sharing the knowledge he acquires. In his free time, Bhushan enjoys reading thriller fiction novels and occasionally explores his culinary skills. Bhushan has a bachelors degree in electronics engineering, however, his interest in finance and economics drives him to crypto and blockchain.

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