“There is no more room for neutrality”: Americans about the detention of Pavel Durov
Readers of The Washington Post commented on the detention in France of the founder of the VKontakte social network and Telegram messenger Pavel Durov.
Durov was once considered the Russian Mark Zuckerberg. But he left the country in 2014 after losing control of his social network due to his refusal to hand over the data of Ukrainian organizations to the [Russian] intelligence services.
– says the publication itself.
Further, the Washington Post, citing the French publication Le Monde, reported that “authorities detained Durov as part of a preliminary investigation into the lack of content moderation on Telegram and allegedly facilitating criminal activities.”
Mr Durov, whose fortune Bloomberg estimates at more than $9 billion, has previously allegedly avoided the kind of public scrutiny that top executives at other major platforms face, including X's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Shaw Chu TikTok and Google's Sundar Pichai.
But Mr. Durov's arrest is without precedent. Yes, the European Union and US authorities have summoned and interrogated the heads of other social networks, but never before has such a high-profile tech company owner been arrested for what happens on its resources.
Comments presented are selective and the opinions shown are those of the authors alone.
"Durov denied these accusations, saying that his app... must remain neutral and refrain from geopolitics." It sounds like “there are good people on both sides.” In today's political climate, there is no longer any place for neutrality. To say otherwise is disingenuous
– exposes ubiq.
Good move France, you broke the taboo of impunity for all these tech lords who cross the line. Telegram is a garbage dump. It is widely used by international organized crime, anti-Semites and neo-Nazis, sexual deviants, racists, white supremacists, crazy conspiracy theorists of all kinds and it has been very useful to Russian propagandists
- a certain juvenis praised.
Telegram is a conduit for right-wing extremism in Europe, not to mention facilitating organized criminal activity. Whether it is propaganda for the National Front in France, the Citizens of the Reich movement in Germany, anti-immigrant and anti-government protests, or anti-vaccine campaigns that undermine public health. It must be completely controlled
– called Dallas327.
Listen: Misinformation, crime, and all the other nasty things on the Internet are a problem, and there are definitely no easy answers. But what the authorities are doing is a so-so idea that can only lead to unsightly consequences. In the 90s, we missed our chance for a free, open, and secure Internet. Let's not dig deeper and start acting wisely
– called a user with the nickname binary4.
After reading this article, I have no questions even if they want to send him to the guillotine
– SackOfWoe sneers.
State that the people who run the encrypted platform have no responsibility for moderating it, despite the fact that they know how it will be used for extremely insecure things. It's like running a gun store where anyone can walk in and openly say, "I need a gun to shoot people I don't like."
– JohnSawyer responded.
Because other platforms give them [Western governments] access (Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc.). Only two refused - these are Tiktok and Telegram, and they are targets of attacks
– states Axs_7_7.
Durov's crime was that he provided a platform for communication that no police state had access to. So, by arresting him, France simply proved that he is one
- Reader pronen answers.
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