The Telegram Open Network (TON) society has penned an open letter to French authorities demanding the release of Telegram’s Russian founder Pavel Durov who was arrested on French soil on August 24th.
The TON society which is an independent group representing the TON community in its open letter to French authorities called on global bodies to wade into the matter and defend human rights.
The Open letter which was titled #FreeDurov Community Statement was released on August 27th two days after Pavel Durov was arrested at Le Bourget Airport in France while alighting from his Private Jet.
“France: The arrest of the Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, is a direct assault on a basic human right — the freedom of expression of everyone
We strongly condemn the arrest of Mr. Pavel Durov by the French authorities, a blatant attack on the freedom of expression and the right to private life.
We call upon France to immediately release Mr. Durov and to respect the social media platform’s right to protect the freedom of expression, privacy of its users, and right to private life.
We also call on the United Nations (UN), the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union (EU), and other concerned governments to challenge France’s actions and uphold the fundamental right to liberty online.
Lastly, we call on all tech and social media platforms to resist baseless and extra-judicial orders that violate the rights of their users, which must be defended at all costs.” The Open letter reads in parts.
The Open letter by the TON community reiterated the fact that Telegram abides by EU laws and has made good efforts to deal with its moderation challenges which are faced by all large social media apps.
“ Contrary to the accusations on Telegram’s lack of moderation, its moderation policy complies with EU laws, including the Digital Services Act. Its moderation policy meets the industry standards and is constantly evolving to become more sophisticated. All large social networks go through moderation challenges. Yet, Mr. Durov is the only one that has been arrested” The letter added.
The letter encouraged other social media apps to Unite and resist censorship pressure from state actors and other forms of information embargo against users of their platform.
European Convention on Human Rights
The open letter by the TON society argued that the arrest of Pavel Durov goes against the European Convention on Human Rights to which France is a signatory.
It further argued that the case of Encryption which is a key feature of the Telegram app has already been handled by the European Court of Human Rights in the CASE OF PODCHASOV v. RUSSIA where it was upheld that encryption contributes to ensuring the enjoyment of other fundamental human rights such as freedom of Expression.
The letter called on France to review its local laws to eschew full compliance with the ECHR and immediately release Mr. Durov from detention.
Tech, Crypto, and Compliance
Mr Pavel Durov is the second big tech or crypto executive to be detained after Changpeng Zhao of Binance over compliance issues. CZ who is serving a 4 months sentence over claims of Money laundering and compliance in the United States Jurusdiction was just moved to a half way house in preparation of a late September release.
In Nigeria, Today marks 6 months two Binance executives were arrested and Detained in Nigeria over claims of Money laundering and Tax evasion. One of the executives managed to escape. Tigran Gambaryan, the remaining Binance Executive is still in detention despite failing health.
Binance earlier announced its plan to double its workforce. The largest crypto exchange in the world is focusing on Compliance as it battles compliance issues in various jurisdictions around the world.
