Elon Musk protests after Telegram founder Pavel Durov is arrested in France

Posted by cryptonews Crypto News August 25, 2024 2.6k Views

The investigation against Durov revolves around lack of moderators on Telegram.

Billionaire Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov was arrested on Saturday at Bourget airport outside Paris, local media outlets reported. Durov was detained by local authorities while he was arriving in his private jet from Azerbaijan.

The focus of the police investigation into Durov is the messaging app Telegram’s dearth of moderators, which they say has allowed illegal activity to continue unchecked.

Earlier this year, Durov had revealed in an interview with Tucker Carlson about the constant troubles he has faced from authorities from around the world, especially Russia and USA.

Due to Durov’s repeated denials of requests from the government for a back key to facilitate investigations, the massive messaging platform has a reputation for having strong encryption.

Telegram Linked TON Token Falls Over 15%

When word leaked that Durov had been arrested in France, the value of the Telegram-linked TON token temporarily fell as much as 17%. As of this writing, TON is down 14% over the past few hours to trade at just over $5.83.

Source: Coingecko

Elon Musk Protests Pavel Durov’s Arrest

Elon Musk expressed his support for Pavel Durov on social media. In a quip, Musk emphasized the importance of the First Amendment’s protections for free speech in the United States by saying, “In 2030, people are getting executed in Europe for liking memes.” He made mention of rumors that Durov might get a 20-year prison sentence as well.

The TON blockchain team informed the community that Ton is still fully operational in a post about Durov’s arrest that was made on X. “Following the recent news related to the Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov, we want to assure everyone that the TON community remains strong and fully operational.”

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