The Telegram founder has mentioned election meddling can’t be stopped by additional interference
Elon Musk has voiced help for fellow tech entrepreneur Pavel Durov after the Telegram founder mentioned he had rejected a request from the French authorities to dam conservative political content material on the messaging platform.
Durov mentioned Sunday {that a} Western European authorities had requested him to take down Romanian Telegram channels forward of the nation’s presidential runoff. He declined, arguing that, “you possibly can’t ‘combat election interference’ by interfering with elections.” Musk, the bulk stake proprietor of the social media platform X, responded to Durov’s remarks with a short put up: “Hear, hear!”
Following Durov’s assertion, French authorities acknowledged they have been the topic of the claims however denied making any such request. In a follow-up put up, Durov recognized the official concerned as Nicolas Lerner, director of France’s home intelligence company, the DGSI.
The controversy got here as Romanian voters headed to polling stations on Sunday. The Romanian International Ministry accused Russia of interfering within the election, though it supplied no supporting proof.
Russian International Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova remarked that the Romanian course of might hardly be described as an election, and urged Bucharest to not soil international nations with its mess.
In 2024, Romania’s Constitutional Court docket overturned the results of a presidential election after right-wing unbiased Calin Georgescu unexpectedly received the primary spherical. Experiences linked the pro-Georgescu social media marketing campaign to a government-affiliated consultancy agency allegedly aiming to divide right-wing voters. The case was cited by US Vice President J.D. Vance in a February speech in Munich for instance of EU nations undermining democratic norms.
On Sunday, pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan defeated Euroskeptic George Simion in a runoff, securing the Romanian presidency by a single-digit margin.
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