The alleged request for a telegram censorship in Romania is rejected

Fixation On the day of the second round of the tense presidential elections in Romania, is the founder Pavel Durovin a high -profile announcement, he claimed that he rejected the request of an unnamed Western European government after « silencing » conservative voices in Romania. This Durovlova’s claim, which is the first to report a news agency Reutersit is already like that Politically heated Romania introduced extra turmoil and raised numerous questions about freedom of speech and any foreign interference in the electoral process.

Durov wrote on his Telegram channel that « a Western European government … addressed him with a request to silence conservative votes in Romania before today’s presidential election. » His answer was unwavering: « I have categorically refused. » Duro also made a significant way emoji French loaf, hinting that France was supposed to stand for a controversial request. His message ended with a sharp criticism of such practices: « You cannot » defend democracy « by destroying democracy. You cannot ‘fight against interference in the election’ by interfering with yourself. Do you have freedom of speech and fair elections – or you don’t have them. And the Romanian people deserve both, « concluded Durov, this time with Emoji of the Romanian flag.

This Durovo’s accusation comes at an extremely sensitive moment for Romania. Namely George Simionon and the middle, pro -European -oriented independent candidate Nicușor Dancurrent mayor of Bucharest. The outcome of this election will have important consequences for both the Romanian economy, which is facing difficulties as well as the unity of the European Union. The elections are almost six months after the original first round, which surprisingly led the far right candidate Calin Georgesco, canceled for alleged Russian interference – which otherwise denies Moscow – and irregularities in financing his campaign. He then was not allowed to run again.

The Durova was detained in France last August during an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions that were to take place through the Telegram application. He is expected to threaten him even ten years in prison. Durov, who denied all the allegations, returned to Dubai in March this year. He criticized the French authorities for his arrest that he could not personally be responsible for the content published by telegram users. Nevertheless, the company has introduced several changes since August last year to more aggressively control its platform and closer cooperation with law enforcement throughout the world, according to Reuters.

The Telegram app, founded by Durov in 2013, boasts more than a billion users worldwide. Due to the relatively loose control over the content created by users, it has become popular especially among people living in authoritarian regimes. However, it was this loose that also enabled the spread of hate speech, misinformation and harmful content, which led to the investigations faced by Durov. The latter thus found themselves on a short but growing list of high technological figures charged with crimes committed by users of their platforms. They are for example Ross W. Ulbrichtthe creator of the virtual black market Silk Road, and Changpeng Zhaothe founder of the binance crypto, who pleaded guilty to US money laundering law on his platform last year.

Durovlje’s Sunday allegations are further complicated by the already complex picture of the Romanian elections. Simion, among other things, advocates the merger of Moldova and parts of Ukraine, where the ethnic Romanians live, with Romania to the so -called « United Romania ». Given that Romania is a member of both the European Union and NATO and that it borders to Ukraine, its political orientation in the current geopolitical situation is of the utmost importance.

The Durova was detained in France last August during an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions that were to take place through the Telegram application. Photo: Yulia Morozova/Reuters

The sharp message of Durova thus raises numerous questions about the limits of freedom of speech, the responsibility of technological platforms and the possible behind -the -scenes games of power that tries to influence the democratic processes of sovereign countries. Whether it is a genuine attempt to defend freedom of speech, or merely a strategic move of a person who is also struggling serious allegations, may show time. For now, however, the fact remains that the shadow of doubt has fallen on the integrity of the electoral process in one of the key countries in East Europe, where Romanian voters today decide their future.