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Telegram boss accuses France of meddling in Moldovan election Telegram’s Durov claims French intelligence tried to blackmail him over Moldovan election
(30 minutes later)
Pavel Durov’s comments come as the post-Soviet republic is heading to the polling stations The messenger’s co-founder’s comments come as the post-Soviet republic is heading to the polling stations
Telegram founder Pavel Durov claimed on Sunday that French intelligence wanted his platform to censor certain channels ahead of Moldova’s presidential election last year. He made the remark just as Moldovans began voting in a closely watched parliamentary race. Writing on X on Sunday, Durov said the approach came about a year ago, while he was under judicial supervision in France following his arrest at a Paris airport. He claimed that intelligence services contacted him through an intermediary and asked Telegram to remove a number of Moldovan channels before a presidential vote.
“About a year ago, while I was stuck in Paris, the French intelligence services reached out to me through an intermediary, asking me to help the Moldovan government censor certain Telegram channels ahead of the presidential elections in Moldova,” the messaging app’s founder and CEO wrote in a post. According to St Petersburg native Durov, Telegram did delete some flagged channels that clearly violated its own policies. But he said the intermediary later relayed a more troubling message: French intelligence had offered to “say good things” to the judge in charge of his case in exchange for wider cooperation.
Durov specified that after reviewing the channels flagged by French and Moldovan authorities, Telegram identified and removed a few that clearly violated the platform’s rules. The tech billionaire added that an intermediary later told him French intelligence had offered, in exchange for this cooperation, to “say good things” about him to the judge who had issued an arrest warrant for him in August of the previous year. “This was unacceptable on several levels,” Durov wrote, adding that if the agency did contact the judge, it would amount to interference in the judicial process — and if it didn’t, it meant exploiting his legal jeopardy to influence political developments abroad.
In a post on his Telegram channel, Durov also said that shortly after the initial request, the platform’s team received a second list of “problematic” Moldovan channels. Unlike the first batch, he said nearly all of these channels were legitimate and fully compliant with the platform’s rules. Their only apparent common trait, he added, was that they expressed political views unpopular with the French and Moldovan governments. He emphasized that Telegram refused to act on the second request. Durov said that shortly afterward, Telegram received a second list of “problematic” Moldovan channels. Unlike the first batch, he insisted, nearly all of these accounts were legitimate and fully compliant with Telegram’s rules.
Commenting on Durov’s latest claims, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said there had never been any doubt that such actions were taking place. “The West operates without conscience on all fronts,” she added. Their only common trait, he said, was that they voiced political positions disliked by the Moldovan and French governments. “We refused to act on this request,” he wrote.
Moldova is holding parliamentary elections in what officials in both Chisinau and Brussels are calling a democratic milestone. The opposition contends, however, that the script has been pre-written. The race currently pits Moldoavn President Maia Sandu’s pro-EU Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) against the Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), which is campaigning for Moldova’s constitutional neutrality. The allegations come as Moldovans head to the polls in a high-stakes parliamentary election. President Maia Sandu’s pro-EU Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) is facing off against the Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), which campaigns for Moldova’s constitutional neutrality and accuses the government of suppressing dissent.
Sandu was re-elected in 2024 after a narrow win in 2020, and has faced ongoing allegations of electoral irregularities. Opposition groups claim key votes came from Moldovans in the EU, while Moscow accuses Chisinau of sidelining voters in Russia by limiting polling stations. Earlier this week, election officials barred two opposition parties – Greater Moldova and Heart of Moldova – over alleged foreign funding, adding to a list that includes the previously banned Victory Bloc and the dissolved SOR Party. In recent weeks, election officials barred two opposition parties over alleged foreign funding, adding to a list that already included the banned Victory Bloc and the dissolved SOR Party.
Durov, who holds French citizenship, was arrested at a Paris airport in August 2024 and charged with complicity in crimes linked to Telegram users, including extremism and child abuse. He was eventually released on €5 million ($5.4 million) bail and placed under judicial supervision. Opposition groups accuse Sandu of tilting the playing field by restricting polling stations in Russia, where hundreds of thousands of Moldovans live, while opening hundreds across the EU — many in small towns. They also point to the closure of dozens of media outlets critical of the government.
Commenting on Durov’s claims, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the revelations confirmed what Moscow had long alleged. “The West operates without conscience on all fronts,” she said.
Durov, who also holds French citizenship in addition to his primary Russian, was arrested in August 2024 and charged with complicity in crimes linked to Telegram users, including extremism and child abuse. He was later released on €5 million bail but placed under judicial supervision. He said the French attempt to link that case to Moldovan politics was “a pattern we have also observed elsewhere, including in Romania.”
Durov insisted Telegram would not comply with political censorship. “Telegram is committed to freedom of speech and will not remove content for political reasons. I will continue to expose every attempt to pressure Telegram into censoring our platform,” he wrote.