this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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Durov vs the French Intelligence & Musk's support to Durov (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by riccardo@lemmy.ml to c/telegram@lemmy.ml
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Just reporting here an exchange between Durov and the French government that happened in the past few days

It started with Durov posting this message in his telegram channel:

A Western European government (guess which 🥖) approached Telegram, asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today’s presidential elections. I flatly refused. Telegram will not restrict the freedoms of Romanian users or block their political channels.

You can’t “defend democracy” by destroying democracy. You can’t “fight election interference” by interfering with elections. You either have freedom of speech and fair elections — or you don’t. And the Romanian people deserve both.

...statement which received a reply by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Twitter account: https://x.com/francediplo_EN/status/1924138188722815052

Durov later tweeted a few more information (explicit name of the official from which the request was received):

This spring at the Salon des Batailles in the Hôtel de Crillon, Nicolas Lerner, head of French intelligence, asked me to ban conservative voices in Romania ahead of elections. I refused. We didn’t block protesters in Russia, Belarus, or Iran. We won’t start doing it in Europe.

Musk replied twice to durov's tweets

Just leaving this here for the record

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[–] werty@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 months ago

French tweet refrenced in post:

Completely unfounded allegations are circulating on Telegram and Twitter regarding alleged French interference in the Romanian presidential election.

France categorically rejects these allegations and calls on everyone to exercise responsibility and respect for Romanian democracy.

The first round of the Romanian presidential elections last December was sovereignly annulled by the competent Romanian authorities following very real digital and financial interference from actors linked to Russia.

Subsequent investigations by Romanian authorities and the European Commission later confirmed the seriousness of these interferences, including regarding the manipulation of the TikTok algorithm.

In this context, the recent accusations against France are merely a diversionary maneuver from the real threats of interference targeting Romania. France calls on all Romanian political actors to exercise responsibility and defend democracy.

As a partner and friend, we recall that France has stood by Romania for its accession to the European Union, its reforms, its entry into Schengen, and its progress. For its security as well, for example, by sending our soldiers five days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Lying about France, insulting it, is breaking this history.

Musk tweet:

wow

Just leaving this here for the record.