#FreeDurov Community Statement
TON Society27 August 2024
France: The arrest of the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, is a direct assault on a basic human right – the freedom of expression of everyone
We strongly condemn the arrest of Mr. Pavel Durov by the French authorities, a blatant attack on the freedom of expression and the right to private life.
We call upon France to immediately release Mr. Durov and to respect the social media platform’s right to protect the freedom of expression, privacy of its users, and right to private life. We also call on the United Nations (UN), the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union (EU), and other concerned governments to challenge France’s actions and uphold the fundamental right to liberty online. Lastly, we call on all tech and social media platforms to resist baseless and extra-judicial orders that violate the rights of their users, which must be defended at all costs.
Mr. Durov is being detained
Mr. Durov was first arrested by the French police at Le Bourget Airport, an airport north of Paris, on the night of 25 August 2024, local time. Ever since his arrest, not much information has been made available by the French authorities.It was not until almost 48 hours have passed, a Press Release was released with a long-list of complicity type of charges by the French Prosecutor’s Office. Mr. Durov’s arrest has now been further extended and can last up to 96 hours.
Opposed to the allegations, Mr. Durov dedicated his life to secure the freedom of expression for over 950 million users today, often located in jurisdictions where such right is limited. It is not possible to make communication secure for everyone except for a select few. It is either secure or not.
Telegram abides by EU laws
Contrary to the accusations on Telegram’s lack of moderation, its moderation policy is in compliance with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act. Its moderation policy meets the industry standards and is constantly evolving to become more sophisticated. All large social networks go through moderation challenges. Yet, Mr. Durov is the only one that has been arrested.
Release Mr. Durov
Arresting Mr. Durov can only be detrimental, given his dedication and pledge to protect the freedom of expression of Telegram’s users and their rights to private life. Both rights are guaranteed and protected under the European Convention on Human Rights, where France is a convention signatory. We are concerned that the arrest shows the extreme lengths the French authorities have gone to divulge conversations of its users, violating their rights to freedom of expression and rights to private life. It must be noted that the European Court of Human Rights ("ECHR") has unanimously upheld the decision in the CASE OF PODCHASOV v. RUSSIA that “measures for encryption contribute to ensuring the enjoyment of other fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression.”
We call on France to review its local laws to ensure its full compliance to the ECHR and immediately release Mr. Durov.
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Want to be a named signatory? Contact: press@tonsociety.org