Telegram founder Pavel Durov revealed on May 19 that French intelligence sought to interfere in Romania’s presidential election by pressuring him to censor conservative voices on Telegram. Durov stated the meeting occurred this spring at the Salon des Batailles in the Hôtel de Crillon, where Nicolas Lerner, head of France’s Directorate General for External Security (DGSE), allegedly made the request. Durov rejected the appeal outright, writing:

I refused. We didn’t block protesters in Russia, Belarus, or Iran. We won’t start doing it in Europe.

He later added: “You can’t ‘defend democracy’ by destroying democracy. You can’t ‘fight election interference’ by interfering with elections.”

Durov also challenged the stated purpose of the intelligence meeting. “French foreign intelligence confirmed they met with me — allegedly to fight terrorism and child porn. In reality, child porn was never even mentioned. They did want IPs of terror suspects in France, but their main focus was always geopolitics: Romania, Moldova, Ukraine.”

He pointed to Telegram’s record in tackling abuse on the platform, noting: “Since 2018, Telegram has fought child abuse in many ways: content fingerprint bans, dedicated moderation teams, NGO hotlines, and daily transparency reports on banned content — all verifiable. Falsely implying Telegram did nothing to remove child porn is a manipulation tactic.”

Durov was detained by French authorities in August 2024 at Le Bourget Airport near Paris. He faced 12 charges, including complicity in child exploitation and drug trafficking, stemming from alleged inadequate moderation on the platform. Durov was released under judicial supervision with conditions such as a travel ban and mandatory police check-ins. In March 2025, a judge granted him temporary permission to leave France.

French officials denied Durov’s account. According to AFP, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE) acknowledged contacting Durov multiple times regarding Telegram’s role in combating terrorism and illegal content but dismissed the claim that it ever tried to influence electoral outcomes. The French Foreign Ministry went further, posting a screenshot of Durov’s remarks stamped with the word “faux” and calling the allegations baseless. The public fallout highlights growing friction between encrypted platforms and European intelligence services over control, surveillance, and political content.

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