Deniz 
The detention of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has triggered a furious internet discussion. On Saturday, the 39-year-old entrepreneur was arrested outside of Paris at Le Bourget airport. Once he arrived in a private jet, police led the Russian native away. French officials, who had obtained an international arrest warrant, sought him for lack of moderation on Telegram. Netizens’ demands to “free Durov” are the buzz on social media lately. Also supporting the Telegram co-founder are top tech heavyweights like Elon Musk and Edward Snowden.
Shortly following Durov’s detention, Snowden—a former American NSA intelligence contractor and whistleblower—took to X, formerly Twitter, to criticize the shockingly arbitrary arrest.
“First they came for Tiktok, and I did not speak out—because I was not twelve years old. Then they came for the Telegram, and I did not speak out—because I was using some other app or something. Then they came for literally every other platform for dissent, and I did not speak out—because bro, how tf could I—that’s the entire point—wake up, wake up,wa—” Snowden said on X.
Related: Telegram CEO Pavel Durov Arrested in France for Multiple Offenses
One of the first to highlight the “#FreePavel” movement was the X account of SpaceX founder. Musk then started a flurry of postings on his social media page outlining his worries over the attack on free expression.
Just hours following Durov’s detention, he tweeted, “Being a free speech advocate these days is increasingly feeling like a Kobayashi Maru problem.” David Sacks of Craft Ventures noted, “Using allied countries to circumvent First Amendment protections is the new Rendition.”
In an X post titled “It’s hard to imagine a country both arresting the founder of Telegram and being a major startup hub,” computer scientist Paul Graham also protested Durov’s detention.
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