Has Telegram bowed to global censorship overlords?

FPI / September 26, 2024

Less than a month after he was arrested by French authorities in Paris, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov announced the messaging app would bow to Western governments' requests to provide Telegram users' personal information.

On Sept. 23, Durov said Telegram will provide users’ IP addresses and phone numbers "to relevant political authorities," Big League Politics reported.

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Telegram, based in the United Arab Emirates, has built a reputation for being non-responsive to censorship requests by governments worldwide.

Protesters have routinely used Telegram to organize demonstrations against their government. The app has also served as an outlet for alternative and independent media, "and other groups that have been traditionally dispossessed by the legacy media and other Western political institutions," the report said.

Under Durov’s stewardship, Telegram has been targeted by governments worldwide, including the European Union, Iran, and Russia.

Durov faces charges in France of allegedly being complicit in the dissemination of materials featuring acts of child abuse. While denying the charges against him, Durov has been ordered to remain in France as he goes through his legal ordeal.

Big League Politics concluded:

"Free speech protections remain relatively strong in the U.S., so members of the American national security establishment likely outsourced the policing function of shutting down Telegram to France. As a member of NATO and the Collective West, France will likely do D.C.’s bidding without complaints, which likely explains why Durov was arrested in France of all places..

"The charges that Durov is currently facing are largely a pretext, for what is likely a politically motivated arrest against a figure whose platform has become a nuisance to the national security interests of NATO and the Judeo-American Empire."

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