Billionaire Elon Musk speaks out about the arrest of Telegram founder
Billionaire Elon Musk, boss of social network X (formerly Twitter), has called for the release of Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov.
According to RIA Novosti on August 25, regarding the arrest of Telegram founder (Russia) Pavel Durov in France, owner of social network X, billionaire Elon Musk called for Pavel's release, through the hashtag #FreePavel.
“#FreePavel” – billionaire Elon Musk wrote on his social network page X.
On the Russian side, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on August 25 that France's decision to arrest Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov raised the question of whether international organizations would demand his release or "go back on their word."
“Do you think this time they will call Paris and demand the release of Mr. Durov or will they go back on their word?” Ms. Zakharova commented on Telegram.
The Russian diplomat pointed out that in 2018, a group of 26 NGOs condemned the Russian court's decision to block the Telegram application.
Pavel Durov was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2013, Durov launched Telegram, which now has more than 950 million monthly active users. Telegram aims to reach 1 billion monthly users next year. Telegram is now the largest and most popular social network, after Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and Wechat.
Since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022, Telegram has become the main platform for both Russia and Ukraine to report on the fighting and political situation surrounding the conflict.