Tucker Carlson Interview: Pavel Durov

The social media app Telegram has over 950 million users around the world. Its founder Pavel Durov sat down with the journalist Tucker Carlson at his offices in Dubai for his first on-camera interview in almost a decade.

Published / Objavljeno: 17th April 2024

Source: Interview Pavel Durov

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-----UPDATE AUGUST 26TH 2024

⚡️ Pavel Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport in Paris as he disembarked from his private jet, French media report.

▪️ French law enforcement officials say Telegram's lack of cooperation with law enforcement makes Durov complicit in drug trafficking, crimes against children and fraud;

▪️ Investigators took Durov into custody;

▪️ Pavel Durov's detention in France was at the request of the United States, according to the head of the Safe Internet League, Yekaterina Mizulina. It has also been revealed that Israel was requesting censorship of the platform just one week ago. 

▪️ The TON cryptocurrency created by Durov collapsed in value following news of his arrest;

▪️ French authorities may charge Durov with violating sanctions over contacts with the Russian Federation and questionable transactions, French media reported.

⚡️ The deputy speaker of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Davankov, urged the Russian Foreign Ministry to seek Pavel Durov's release. He also sent a similar appeal to Sergei Lavrov.

The deputy speaker added that the businessman's arrest was political in nature and a tool to gain access to personal information of Telegram users.

⚡️ France may use Durov trial to impose EU sanctions on Telegram - media report

In Iran, access to Telegram is free. In Russia, Telegram is free. In the EU, Telegram's CEO is in jail. Question: which countries are freer? 

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Of course, the arrest of Pavel Durov is not an accident. The Western "elite" is unable to tolerate individuals who are ready to fight against its flighty principles. Now the main task for the French investigation is to gain access to millions of correspondence of Russian users, of whom there are more than 60% of the total number of users in Telegram.

The West cannot do without total control over information, and to achieve this goal it does not shy away from resorting to frankly shameful decisions. It is not without reason that the entire American Internet asks Elon Musk not to visit Europe, so that he does not join Pavel Durov in the coming months.