Florian Philippot, the leader of the French Patriots party, took to his X page to express his outrage over the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov in France, accusing Paris of displaying a “tyrannical face” to the world.
“Last night, the CEO and founder of the Telegram social network was detained by the French police at Le Bourget airport, taken into custody, and now faces up to 20 years in prison… Will the owner of the X social network, Elon Musk, be jailed next if he arrives in France for not complying with European censorship rules under the Digital Services Act? France is showing the world a tyrannical face! We must free ourselves from these madmen!” Philippot wrote.
On Saturday evening, French media reported that Durov was detained at Le Bourget airport after arriving on a private plane from Azerbaijan. Reports suggest that Durov, who holds French citizenship, was on France’s wanted list.
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Allegedly, the French legal system views Durov as a suspect in many offenses; terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud and money laundering, because Telegram has reportedly declined to cooperate with authorities in France. Durov could be jailed for 20 years if he is found guilty.
Read More: Musk Hints at Possible Actions on X Following Arrest of Telegram Founder Pavel Durov in France
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This turn of events has stirred up heated debate and fear about what this will mean for other tech entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk, who owns X, previously known as Twitter.
