The arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France, coupled with encouragement from the US administration, are “the hallmark of the dictatorship”, American journalist Tucker Carlson said.
The comments were made during an interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently announced the suspension of his campaign as an independent candidate for the US presidency.
Durov was arrested in Paris last week and is being held for questioning in connection with a broader cybercrime investigation into illicit activity on the billionaire’s end-to-end encrypted social media platform, French authorities said. Telegram has generally refused to share user data and chat logs with authorities, and Durov said its privacy-first approach has drawn the attention of intelligence agencies around the world.
In Monday’s interview, Kennedy said the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right to free speech from government interference, should also protect “disinformation” as well as information that “nobody wants to listen.”
Carlson responded that the administration of US President Joe Biden currently views anything that criticizes the “work they are doing” as misinformation.
“With this in mind, we see the Biden administration encouraging France, [French President Emmanuel] Macron will arrest the owner and founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, who is currently in a French prison”, Carlson said, adding: “This is the hallmark of dictatorship.”
“We lost Europe,” Kennedy replied. “Europe now has no freedom of speech.”
He went on to draw a comparison between Durov and X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk, criticizing the Democratic Party for its lack of real democratic values.
“Elon Musk should be the hero of the Democratic Party,” Kennedy said. “In fact, he was the only one who allowed free speech on his platform, and now he has become a villain because of it.”
Russia’s top human rights official Tatyana Moskalkova said Durov’s arrest was a blow to freedom of expression, saying it was “an attempt to shut down Telegram, the platform where you can find the truth about world affairs.”
Telegram’s official statement on its CEO’s arrest noted that the platform complies with EU laws and that its content moderation policies are in line with industry standards.
You can share this story on social media:
