26 August 2024

Rumble boss flees EU afterTelegram VEO Durov arrest


Jesse Coghlan

Rumble boss ‘departed’ from Europe after Telegram CEO arrest

Rumble founder and CEO Chris Pavlovski said he “departed from Europe” after French police arrested Telegram’s CEO and the country “threatened” the video-sharing site.


. . .Rumble blocked access to French users, claiming the country’s government asked it to remove “certain Russian news sources,” which it said it would legally challenge.

In May, Pavlovski also claimed Russia blocked Rumble because it “refused to comply with their censorship demands.”

Source: Chris Pavlovski

“We are currently fighting in the courts of France, and we hope for Pavel Durov’s immediate release,” Pavlovski wrote.
He did not share what country he had left and his current whereabouts. Rumble did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rumble is a video-sharing platform based in Florida and Ontario. It is known for its more lenient content moderation policies compared to larger social media companies like Meta and Google, and has attracted a significant following, particularly among conservative users.

Related: OmegaPro co-founder arrested over $4B crypto scam

Durov, a Russian-born French citizen, was arrested by French officers on Aug. 24 at Paris–Le Bourget Airport on a warrant issued by the country’s judicial police based on a preliminary investigation, according to multiple news reports.
The police investigation is reportedly focused on Telegram’s alleged failure to cooperate with law enforcement and lack of moderation for crimes on its platform, including child sexual abuse content, drug trafficking, fraud and terrorism.
  • In a statement, Telegram said it abides by European Union laws and its moderation “is within industry standards and constantly improving.” It added that Durov “has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe.”
It added that almost a billion users use Telegram as a source of “vital information,” and it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”
French authorities have not publicly released a statement on Durov’s arrest but are expected to on Monday, Aug. 26.



26 Aug, 2024 07:39
HomeWorld News
Rumble boss flees EU after Durov arrest
Chris Pavlovski’s video hosting platform has been embroiled in a long-running legal battle with the French authorities
Rumble boss flees EU after Durov arrest
FILE PHOTO: Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski. ©  AP Photo / Phelan M. Ebenhack











France has crossed all boundaries by arresting Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov, Chris Pavlovski, the CEO of video-sharing platform Rumble, has said, adding that he left Europe after the news broke.
Durov was taken into custody at a Paris airport on Saturday evening after arriving from Azerbaijan by private jet. 
  • While the French authorities have yet to publicly announce the reason for detaining the Russian tech mogul, reports indicate that the charges are related to his alleged complicity in drug trafficking, pedophilia offenses, fraud, as well as failure to address criminal activity on the messenger.





Telegram has denied any wrongdoing, adding that it is “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Pavlovski said he had “safely departed from Europe” in the aftermath of Durov’s arrest. He slammed the move by France, saying it “crossed a red line,” while noting that the country had already threatened Rumble.
‘Imagine if it were Moscow?’ How prominent Russians reacted to arrest of Telegram founder Durov
Read more
 ‘Imagine if it were Moscow?’ How prominent Russians reacted to arrest of Telegram founder Durov

”Rumble will not stand for this behavior and will use every legal means available to fight for freedom of expression, a universal human right. We are currently fighting in the courts of France, and we hope for Pavel Durov’s immediate release,” he added.



Pavlovski’s platform, which has positioned itself as a free speech alternative to YouTube, has been embroiled in its own legal battle with the French authorities. It began in November 2022 after officials in Paris banned Rumble over its refusal to comply with a request to remove Russian media accounts blocked in the EU due to sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.

Though Durov’s arrest occurred in France, a number of opinion leaders, including American entrepreneur David Sacks, have suggested that the US was behind the move. 

In April, Sacks also predicted that Washington could go after Telegram, X, and eventually Rumble, given that the US passed a law that would ban the video-sharing platform TikTok if its Chinese-based developer, ByteDance, refused to sell it within 12 months.

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