Mike Benz, a former State Department official under former President Trump, said that he believes the US State Department wants to exert pressure on Telegram, not in order to destroy the platform, but to bend it to their will and control it. Benz notes how Telegram has been used in US-backed “color revolutions,” including in Belarus and Russia. He said, “Telegram played a major role in the US State Department’s fomenting of the color revolution in Belarus in the summer of 2020. The National Endowment for Democracy, the US State Department, and USAID were all funding the major organizers of the street riots in Belarus and using Telegram…”
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Just got booted from the @MarioNawfal space so I’m gonna speak my peace here: what’s behind today’s arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov pic.twitter.com/FexLvJZK92
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) August 25, 2024
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It’s been almost 80 years since the end of World War II and fascism has once again reared its ugly head in Europe where the so-called “Western democracies” are waging a ruthless war on free speech.
On Saturday, authorities in France arrested Pavel Durov, the founder and CEO of the encrypted messaging app Telegram whose platform has gained in popularity as authoritarian regimes have flexed their censorship powers in a sweeping crackdown on dissent, especially across the pond.
The 39-year-old billionaire was taken into custody by police after he landed at Le Bourget airport at around 8 p.m. after he flew in from Azerbaijan, according to French media outlet TF1 Info.
The country’s authorities reportedly claim that Telegram’s encryption tools make it complicit in such criminal activity as drug trafficking, conspiracy, and pedophilia although the warrant was only subject to enforcement if Durov was on French soil, which he was when his private plane landed.
“He made a blunder this evening. We don’t know why… Was this flight just a stopover? In any case, he’s in custody,” an unnamed source “close to the investigation” told the outlet.
The arrest would seem to be a dramatic escalation in the assault on political dissent and free speech and was condemned by users on X, another platform that is in the crosshairs of fascists both in Europe and elsewhere on the globe.
Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company, Telegram. But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech. It was a western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic NATO member,… https://t.co/F83E9GbNHC
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 24, 2024
“Pavel Durov left Russia when the government tried to control his social media company, Telegram. But in the end, it wasn’t Putin who arrested him for allowing the public to exercise free speech. It was a Western country, a Biden administration ally and enthusiastic NATO member, that locked him away,” Tucker Carlson wrote.
“Pavel Durov sits in a French jail tonight, a living warning to any platform owner who refuses to censor the truth at the behest of governments and intel agencies. Darkness is descending fast on the formerly free world,” added the man who is arguably the most important journalist in the world, sharing his interview with Durov from earlier this year.
“France just arrested Pavel Durov, founder & CEO of the encrypted, uncensored Telegram platform. The need to protect free speech has never been more urgent,” wrote Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who just suspended his third party campaign and endorsed Donald J. Trump, the only choice when it comes to protecting free speech.
Breaking: The crackdown against free speech escalates. Telegram founder Pavel Durov has been arrested in France. Western intelligence services want access to Telegram’s private messages. According to French media Durov may face 20 years in jail if he doesn’t cooperate. @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/x6bki4iarX
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) August 24, 2024
And all those from the “greatest generation,” who died in the Normandy invasion, sacrificed their lives for THIS “freedom ?” France is an INSULT to America. Hopefully we can “fix” our ‘problem’ in Nov.
France is controlled by the same people controlling American. Stand and Fight, or lose your freedom. Because one if by land two if by sea is now too late. They are here, and in charge of all our governments, fomenting hatred, fomenting division, fomenting killing of our children (abortion), fomenting lies, fomenting all the things that are the deadly sins, like greed, and so on; Be the light in your town, in your neighborhood. Bring the church back into your life, and your families lives, and your communities lives. Let’s teach each other (once we learn it ourselves) how to… Read more »