French intelligence tried to rig Moldova elections via Telegram, says founder Durov

Pavel Durov. (Photo/Reuters)

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has accused French intelligence of attempting to weaponise his legal troubles in Paris to push political censorship in Eastern Europe, a strategy he says shows signs of spreading into Romania.

On Sunday, Durov wrote on X that while he was detained in France last year, intelligence agents approached him through an intermediary, pressing him to remove a set of Telegram channels ahead of Moldova’s presidential elections. The alleged offer came with strings attached: cooperation in exchange for favourable words to the French judge overseeing his case.

“This was unacceptable on several levels,” Durov said. “If the agency did in fact approach the judge, it constituted an attempt to interfere in the judicial process. If it did not, then it was exploiting my legal situation in France to influence political developments in Eastern Europe — a pattern we have also observed in Romania.”

Targeting opposition in Moldova

Telegram reviewed the channels on the first list, taking down only those that clearly violated platform rules. But a second list soon followed, Durov said — this time targeting opposition voices that were politically inconvenient for the Moldovan and French governments, but fully compliant with Telegram’s guidelines. Telegram refused to act.

The revelations highlight a growing concern over the intersection of European security agencies and political influence campaigns in fragile democracies near the EU’s borders.

Moldova has faced mounting pressure from both Russia and the West, while Romania is heading into its own election season under the shadow of disinformation battles.

“Telegram is committed to freedom of speech and will not remove content for political reasons,” Durov insisted. “I will continue to expose every attempt to pressure Telegram into censoring our platform.”

French authorities have not commented on the allegations.

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Source: TRT