France has arrested Pavel Durov, Trelegram owner and manager.
He has been put in protective custody, for two reasons, the lack of moderation on the platform, which allows it to be used for criminal activities, and his lack of collaboration with states polices and justices when a crime has been committed.
Elon Musk and ultra right support him in the name of freedom of expression, and Putin who dreams to shut him up in such a way that Pavel Durov had to leave Russia support him also.
I saw that in the news. How do most of the French feel about it? Personally, I think it’s time someone forced social media into some responsibility.
An interesting dilemma.
Freedom of speech and press are desirable goals and demanded by people who then proceed to abuse the very freedom they are granted.
The inevitable result is forced restriction of speech. Ironic.
One person’s abuse is someone else’s opinion. There’s a line where it crosses into violence, and you’re not free to do that.
I would ban speech that promotes hate and unwarranted fear.
The matter is that, for Russia, Telegram is both a powerful tool of Kremlin, and the last canal of freedom of expression for opponents.
Kremlin tried vainly to take control of it.
Some of the motives of the protective custody: complicity in the possession of child pornography, drug trafficking or refusal to cooperate with the authorities in criminal investigations.
France is becoming a police state, like most of Western Europe.
Not sure you are wrong, would you care to explain ?
How you define “hate” is the detail where the devil can appear. Too loose, and it can be used to prosecute someone for saying something you don’t like.
I am aware that the American idea of free speech is unique in the the world, but along with Germany and Britain, France seem to have become more open about limiting citizens rights in the name of “security”.
Just a few examples:
Of course one can seek satisfaction for slander and monetary damages .
Well, in most of Europe, Slander, racism, call to violence, discrimination and call to discrimination, are forbidden by law, and punished.
The freedom of every person stops when if causes a wrong to other people.
Freedom of speech is one important freedom, but does not allow you to cause wrongs to other people.
The courts control and fix the limit.
In the US, the bar for suing for slander is very high. For too many countries if you say something disparaging about the official religion, the bar is way too low for getting punished for it. Finding the sweet spot between those is not easy.
That’s what my wife and I found while touring Europe. Some places recognized that much of local graffiti was an improvement over bare walls. They decided to only remove graffiti that is offensive or hateful. Smart.
Again, American free speech is very different. I think it is reasonable to limit speech that could physically harm others, but harmful speech has a much broader definition in Europe. In my view, it’s too broad.
In the case of Durov, his arrest seems politically motivated because Telegram is correctly seen as a platform for Right Wing commentors who are often anti-Macron and anti-EU.
In a democratic state, arrests are not politically motivated as the justice is independent.
And i ma not sure that Macron who gave the French nationality to Durov, with a fast procedure, after having received him, was happy.
Macron is courting Musk and these people.
Unpopular speech may be “stifled”. This is the beginning of autocracy.
Durov is a friend of Macron who gave him the French nationality. It is speculated that he was going to meet him if he had not been arrested.
French Justice is independent.
Durov has been put in protective custody, for two reasons, the lack of moderation on the platform, which allows it to be used for criminal activities, and his lack of collaboration with states polices and justices when a crime has been committed.
Ultra right uses Telegram, but others means also . We don’t suppress speeches because they attack Europe or government.
A good third or more of French population, or more, would be arrested.
In almost every country a call to kill people would be a target for justice, not only in France.
And European laws impose that the platforms moderate the contents, which Telegram does not do.
But I agree, there is a risk
The guarantee is the control by independent judges, and the UN and European bills of rights.
Well, not in all democratic states as see in Britain. Hopefully you’re right about France.
He is russian with lots of posts on telegram documenting what is going on at the ground level in ukraine . France is turning into an authoritarian state just like other western countries with the CEO of Rumble now leaving Europe as a result.