Cryptocurrency community heavyweights took to social media on Sunday to express their support for billionaire Pavel Durov after French authorities arrested the Telegram founder at an airport near Paris.
According to French authorities, an arrest warrant has been issued for Durov due to the businessman’s failure to properly manage his criminal activity on Telegram.
The price of TonCoin (TON) has fallen sharply after news of the arrest broke. TonCoin, a digital asset linked to social media platform Telegram, fell to $5.25 — its lowest level since August 8 — and is 27% below its high this year.
Notcoin (NOT), the token for a popular money-making app on Telegram that taps to earn money, has fallen to $0.0090, down more than 25% from its high last week.
It is worth noting that Hamster Kombat futures pre-market are down to $0.19, down from last week’s high of $0.2553.
The authorities have not yet announced the exact details of Durov’s arrest. However, according to Financial TimesThere is an ongoing investigation into whether Telegram and its members are using the platform for illegal activities such as money laundering, terrorism, and child exploitation.
Earlier this month, Telegram came under scrutiny for allowing users to publicly share far-right and neo-Nazi views to the point where groups used the app to organize riots In the United Kingdom.
The app has also been accused of failing to cooperate with investigators into drug trafficking, child sexual exploitation, and fraud. Telegram denies lack of adequate governance, according to BBC.
Cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and billionaires have responded.
French President Emmanuel Macron is cracking down on social media companies and implementing strict content moderation policies.
For example, Rumble, a YouTube competitor in the US and Canada, was forced to suspend operations in the country because it refused to block pro-Russian news sources.
In a post on X, Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovsky said:
Other social media companies have also been under pressure to moderate content.
X, formerly known as Twitter, recently shut down. Brazilian operations After a Supreme Court judge threatened to imprison its employees.
X owner Elon Musk also came under fire From Thierry Breton, an EU commissioner, for failing to moderate content on the X website.
Musk also takes issue with the word “moderate,” which he equates with censorship.
Musk, the world’s richest person with a net worth of $222 billion, also took the opportunity to criticize other social media companies, including Meta Platforms and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg. See below.
While Zuckerberg was never arrested, the Facebook founder was file a lawsuit For allegedly failing to protect children from sexual abuse and human trafficking.
The judge has since issued He fell Zuckerberg from the lawsuit.
Telegram, which has over 900 million active users, has become popular for its minimalist approach to content moderation. Interview with Tucker CarlsonDurov said he moved from Russia to Dubai after authorities threatened to seize control of the platform.
He also revealed that he was regularly tracked by the FBI whenever he visited the United States.
Durov’s arrest also angered businessman Kim Schmitz, also known as Kim Dotcom.
Schmitz, the founder of BitCache, criticized Macron and declared his support for Durov with the hashtag #FreePavel.
In another statement, billionaire David Sachs, the co-founder of Kraft and former chief operating officer of PayPal, made unfounded claims that the United States is using France to circumvent the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech.
As of the time of publication, there has been no US connection to Borov’s arrest.
Michael van de Poppe, a popular crypto analyst with over 723,000 followers, posted, Spread the word In order to release him.
Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that Durov’s arrest looks very bad for the future of software and communications freedom in Europe.
Commenting on TON’s price action, DaanCrypto, another analyst with nearly 400,000 followers, warned that the coin could face a short squeeze if Durov is launched.
He pointed to the significant drop in the value of Binance Coin (BNB) after Binance and Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to money laundering charges.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.