{"id":50056,"date":"2025-09-29T14:16:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:16:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=50056"},"modified":"2025-09-29T14:16:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T14:16:56","slug":"is-telegram-still-free-french-government-force-moldova-election-interference-via-pavel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=50056","title":{"rendered":"Is Telegram Still Free? French Government Force Moldova Election Interference Via Pavel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on September 28 that French intelligence pressured him into removing Moldovan election channels during the 2024 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>In posts on Telegram and <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/analysis\/top-crypto-stocks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener sponsored\">X<\/a>, he claimed the request came through an intermediary while he was in Paris and was linked to his ongoing legal case in France.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThis was unacceptable on several levels,\u201d Durov wrote.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Allegations of election fraud in Moldova are all over Telegram. What is going on at the Central Electoral Commission of Moldova? Footage of a worker allegedly destroying ballots of the opposition parties, the Patriotic Bloc and Alternativa, and calling people who voted for them\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iXf1Y6Rh1H\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/iXf1Y6Rh1H<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/stillgray\/status\/1972302996483498424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Durov called the approach \u201cunacceptable,\u201d arguing that if French agents had contacted the judge, it amounted to interference in the judicial process.<\/p>\n<p>If not, he said, it meant his legal troubles were being exploited for political leverage in Eastern Europe. Here\u2019s what you should know about Telegram, the company\u00a0<span style=\"margin: 0px;padding: 0px\">behind\u00a0<a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/cryptocurrency\/crypto-presales\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TON crypto<\/a>, and whether it could face a European ban<\/span>.<\/p>\n<h2>Did Pavel Durov\u2019s Arrest For Telegram Spark a Free Speech Fight?<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_288360\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-288360\" style=\"width: 1599px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-288360\" src=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1599\" height=\"717\" srcset=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot.png 1599w, https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-300x135.png 300w, https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-1024x459.png 1024w, https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-768x344.png 768w, https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-1536x689.png 1536w, https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-50x22.png 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1599px) 100vw, 1599px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-288360\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Source: <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.coingecko.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Coingecko<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When French prosecutors arrested Pavel Durov in 2024, they blamed him for everything ugly on Telegram: drugs, scams, even child exploitation. Durov laughed it off as \u201cabsurd,\u201d saying only a lunatic would think a CEO should babysit millions of users.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/cryptocurrency\/high-risk-high-reward-crypto\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener sponsored\">Crypto Twitter <\/a>and digital rights groups turned the case into a cause, and Durov said that the whole thing was \u201clegally and logically absurd,\u201d because no sane world pins a user\u2019s sins on the CEO.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/16.0.1\/72x72\/1f1f2-1f1e9.png\" alt=\"\ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\udde9\" class=\"wp-smiley\" style=\"height: 1em; max-height: 1em;\"> About a year ago, while I was stuck in Paris, the French intelligence services reached out to me through an intermediary, asking me to help the Moldovan government censor certain Telegram channels ahead of the presidential elections in Moldova. <\/p>\n<p>After reviewing the channels\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pavel Durov (@durov) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/durov\/status\/1972263703149002980?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">September 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Crypto advocates and digital rights groups framed Telegram as a last line of defense for free speech online, warning that the prosecution was a test case for platform accountability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>DISCOVER: <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/cryptocurrency\/best-crypto-to-buy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener sponsored\">Top 20 Crypto to Buy in 2025<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Europe\u2019s Broader Push for Online Control: Is Telegram Next?<\/h2>\n<p>The latest claims come amid a broader European push to regulate online platforms. In May 2025, Durov said French intelligence also pressured Telegram to censor Romanian election content, which he rejected.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t \u2018defend democracy\u2019 by destroying democracy. You can\u2019t \u2018fight election interference\u2019 by interfering with elections,\u201d Durov argued.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Meanwhile, the EU\u2019s <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/cryptocurrency\/new-cryptocurrency\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener sponsored\">controversial 2025 proposal<\/a> to monitor all chat messages, including encrypted ones, has gained backing from 19 member states.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/eu.ci\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/photo_2025-08-12_13-10-57-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"EU \u201cChat Control\u201d Regulation Consequences and Next Steps\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\"><\/p>\n<p>(Source \u2013 <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/europeanblockchainassociation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">European Blockchain Association<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>According to Eurobarometer, trust in government across the EU is 32%, while nearly half of respondents now put more faith in digital platforms for communication (a climb from 42% in 2023).<\/p>\n<p>Durov says Telegram will never censor for politics, no matter the pressure. At stake is the bigger question of who will set the boundaries of political speech in an age where encrypted apps shape public debate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>EXPLORE:\u00a0<a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/news\/xrp-price-jumps-11-after-sec-crypto-unit-tease-xrp-etf-progress\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">XRP Price Jumps 11% After SEC Crypto Unit Tease XRP ETF Progress<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways\">\n<h2 class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__title\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__list\">\n<li class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__list-item\">\n         Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on Sept. 28 that French intelligence attempted to pressure him into removing Moldovan election channels.    <\/li>\n<li class=\"nnbtc-key-takeaways__list-item\">\n         Trust in government across the EU sits at 32%, according to <a class=\"general-link\" href=\"https:\/\/europa.eu\/eurobarometer\/surveys\/detail\/3492\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Eurobarometer<\/a>.    <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/news\/altcoins\/is-telegram-still-free-french-government-force-moldova-election-interference-via-pavel\/\">Is Telegram Still Free? French Government Force Moldova Election Interference Via Pavel<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/99bitcoins.com\/\">99Bitcoins<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on September 28 that French intelligence pressured him into removing Moldovan election channels during the 2024 campaign. In posts on Telegram and X, he claimed the request came through an intermediary while he was in Paris and was linked to his ongoing legal case in France. \u201cThis was unacceptable on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-50056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}