Durov Rejects French Bribe to Censor Telegram

French officials literally tried to bribe the founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov.

They wanted him to censor posts about the election in Moldova, and in exchange,

they offered to say “good things” to the judge overseeing his trial in France. Durov said no.

He explained that Telegram initially took down some posts that clearly violated their rules,

but then French intelligence sent a second list. This new list was just filled with

legitimate channels that the French and Moldovan governments didn't like politically. He refused to act.

This isn't even the first time; he says they tried the same thing with Romanian elections.

Durov’s stance is clear: you can’t defend democracy by destroying it. Now,