Telegram founder is furious with the EU: “We do not help with political censorship”
Pavel Durov, founder of the immensely popular communication platform Telegram, is furious about what he sees happening in the European Union. In a scathing statement on social media, he makes it clear that Telegram will not cooperate with political censorship.
European governments want tech companies to help punish ordinary citizens who criticize the government. But Telegram refuses. “This trend in the EU is alarming,” Durov writes. “I’ve seen German requests to prosecute users who merely criticize government officials. Calling a politician a ‘pig’ or a ‘lizard’ is now treated as a crime. Telegram doesn’t meet such demands – we oppose political prosecution.”
It’s a rare powerful and principled voice at a time when almost all other platforms, from X to Facebook, have collapsed under government pressure.