The co-founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, will not physically participate in the Oslo Freedom forum in Oslo, Norway, after the French courts rejected his request to travel to the Scandinavian country.
According to an announcement by Human Rights Foundation (HRF) – a non -profit organization that defends universal human rights and individual freedom, and the host of the Oslo Freedom forum – Durov will always pronounce his opening speech on a live dissemination.
“It is regrettable that the French courts prevent Mr. Durov from participating in an event where his voice is so necessary,” said the founder and CEO of HRF, Thor Halvorssen.
Durov continues to be a vocal defender of freedom of expression and individual freedom. The leaders of the technological industry and cryptography closely monitor the developments linked to Pavel Durov and the implications for the individual freedom of its current legal battle in France.
In relation: Pavel Durov rejects EU pressure to censor the content of the Romanian elections
Durov claims that the French intelligence services asked him to censor conservative voices
Pavel Durov recently accused French intelligence officials of having asked him to censor the political content of the conservatives linked to the Romanian presidential elections on the Telegram platform.
Durov said he had categorically denied demand. “You cannot” defend democracy “by destroying democracy. You cannot” fight electoral interference “by interfering with the elections,” Durov wrote in a telegram of May 18.
Although the founder of the Telegram did not initially appoint the intelligence official or the country of the European Union who asked him to censor the content, Durov later revealed more concrete details. The co-founder of the Telegram wrote in a post of May 18: Post:
“This spring at the Battle Fair, in the Hôtel de Crillon, Nicolas Lerner, head of French intelligence, asked me to prohibit conservative voices in Romania before the elections. I did not refuse. We did not blocked the demonstrators in Russia, in Bélarus or Iran. We will not start to do it in Europe.”
Durov has repeatedly declared that Telegram will not censor the political content on the platform and leave the markets before restricting freedom of expression on the application of social messaging.
The co-founder of the Telegram said that respect for such heavy political censorship constitutes a violation of human rights.
Review: Has Pavel Durov of Telegram committed a crime? Crypto lawyers weigh
