Telegram founder Pavel Durov warned in an interview on Wednesday that France could experience societal collapse if it continues along its current political trajectory of censorship and regulation.

“Emmanuel Macron did not make the right choice. I am very disappointed. France is becoming weaker and weaker,” Durov said in a translated excerpt from an interview with French media outlet Le Point. Durov added:

“If you cultivate a certain mindset in one or two generations, changing that mindset takes decades. If we continue to waste time, the risks will increase, and the country will have to undergo very extreme changes. When we delay necessary reforms for too long, we will ultimately experience collapse,” the Telegram founder continued, warning that France is losing talent to other jurisdictions like Dubai.

In early June, Durov was interviewed by Tucker Carlson, and as the founder of Telegram, he continued to engage in media outreach following his arrest in France in August 2024.

This arrest has drawn widespread condemnation from the crypto community, civil rights activists, and human rights foundations, who continue to monitor Durov's case and its implications for freedom of speech, self-expression, and political views in the digital age.

The Telegram founder also mentioned that French intelligence agencies had asked him to censor pro-conservative content related to the Romanian presidential election in May 2025.

Durov stated that Nicolas Lerner, the head of the French intelligence agency, found him at the Hôtel de Crillon and requested that he censor content on the platform, a request he refused.

Durov believes that laws like the EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) are a Trojan horse for censorship disguised as consumer protection regulations, serving as tools to combat misinformation or promote online safety.

“These laws are dangerous because they can be used against those who create them. Today, they target those labeled as conspiracy theorists. Tomorrow, they may target their authors,” Durov said in the interview.

Related: The first Bitcoin (BTC) asset management company in Europe has purchased an additional $20 million in Bitcoin, holding a total of over $170 million.

Original article: “Telegram founder Pavel Durov warns that France is experiencing societal collapse”

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