Overview

• Telegram founder Pavel Durov said an intermediary for French intelligence asked him to remove Moldovan political channels and suggested the agency would “say good things” to the French judge overseeing his case.
• Durov said he took down a few channels that clearly violated Telegram’s rules but rejected a later list that he described as mostly legitimate and politically oppositional.
• He said the request came about a year ago ahead of Moldova’s presidential vote, while Moldova held a parliamentary election on Sunday.
• France’s foreign ministry brushed off the new allegation, and France’s DGSE had previously denied a similar claim involving Romanian channels.
• Durov remains under judicial supervision in France following his 2024 arrest as investigators probe alleged organized‑crime activity on Telegram, a platform with over 1 billion monthly users.