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Pavel Durov, the co-founder of Telegram, will no longer travel to Norway for the Oslo Freedom Forum after a French court denied his request to leave the country. Despite the decision, Durov still plans to speak at the event via livestream. The Human Rights Foundation, which hosts the event, called the court’s —ruling unfortunate, especially given Durov’s strong position on free speech.
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The French court decision came just days before the conference, which brings together global voices supporting civil liberties. The Human Rights Foundation’s CEO, Thor Halvorssen, said, “It is unfortunate that French courts would block Mr. Durov from participating in an event where his voice is so needed.”
Durov has been facing pressure in France over his refusal to comply with censorship demands. In a May 18 post on Telegram, he accused French intelligence agencies of requesting that he block conservative political content linked to the Romanian presidential elections. Durov said he immediately rejected that request.
“You can’t ‘defend democracy’ by destroying democracy. You can’t ‘fight election interference’ by interfering with elections,” he wrote.
Telegram has long positioned itself as a platform resistant to government censorship. Durov has repeatedly said the app would rather leave entire markets than give in to requests that violate free speech. He considers political censorship a direct violation of human rights.