Telegram founder Pavel Durov accuses French intelligence of exploiting anti-terror and child protection laws to push political censorship ahead of Romanian elections.
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| Telegram CEO says French spies sought to suppress Romanian political voices under the pretext of fighting terror and child abuse, calling it a manipulation tactic. FILE PHOTO © Instagram /Durov |
PARIS, France — May 21, 2025:
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has intensified his criticism of France’s foreign intelligence agency, the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), accusing it of misusing anti-terror and child protection laws to justify politically motivated censorship. In a new post published Monday on X, Durov claimed that French authorities never mentioned child abuse during meetings but were focused on pressuring him to remove conservative Romanian Telegram channels in the lead-up to a contentious presidential runoff.
According to Durov, DGSE chief Nicolas Lerner requested takedowns targeting political content, while using terrorism and child exploitation as a pretext. “French foreign intelligence confirmed they met with me – allegedly to fight terrorism and child porn. In reality, child porn was never even mentioned,” he wrote. “Their main focus was always geopolitics: Romania, Moldova, Ukraine.”
The DGSE denied political motives, asserting that their outreach aimed to remind Durov and Telegram of their legal responsibilities to prevent the use of the platform for terrorism and child exploitation. Still, Durov argued that such claims were being misused. “Falsely implying Telegram did nothing to remove child porn is a manipulation tactic,” he said, citing the app’s years-long moderation policies, content fingerprinting tools, NGO collaborations, and transparency reports.
Durov also referenced his legal troubles in France last year, when he was arrested in August and charged with complicity in crimes linked to content shared on Telegram. After paying €5 million in bail, he denied all charges as politically motivated. He was later permitted to leave France in March after demonstrating Telegram’s enhanced cooperation with international authorities.
In September 2024, Telegram updated its privacy policy, allowing it to store metadata—like IP addresses and device information—for up to one year. This data can be shared with judicial authorities in cases of criminal suspicion. Despite these changes, the platform continues to face censorship in the EU. Major Russian media Telegram channels were blocked across the bloc late last year, a move Durov criticized as evidence of the EU’s growing suppression of digital freedoms.
The latest claims come amid heightened political tensions in Eastern Europe. Romania is holding a runoff presidential election after the Constitutional Court overturned the initial results in which right-wing independent candidate Calin Georgescu scored a surprise victory. The situation drew international attention, with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance citing it in February as an example of EU interference in democratic processes.
As political and digital battles converge, Durov remains steadfast in portraying Telegram as a platform under siege—not for failing to protect users, but for refusing to bow to geopolitical agendas masked as security concerns.