Odaily Planet Daily News Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov was scheduled to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum in Oslo, Norway, but a French court has rejected his request to leave the country. The organizer, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), said that Durov will deliver a keynote speech via online live broadcast.
Durov previously publicly accused Nicolas Lerner, head of the French intelligence agency, of asking him to ban conservative political content before the Romanian presidential election. Durov refused to cooperate and said that this move "undermines democracy in the name of democracy."
He emphasized that Telegram will not censor political speech in any market, and said that if it encounters forced censorship pressure, it will choose to withdraw from the relevant market. He said: "We did not block protesters in Russia, Belarus or Iran, and we will not do so in Europe." (Cointelegraph)