French Intelligence Accused of Election Meddling by Telegram Founder Durov
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Telegram founder Pavel Durov has alleged that France’s foreign intelligence head, Nicolas Lerner, pressed him to silence conservative Romanian voices ahead of the country’s elections—a request Durov says he firmly rejected.
Durov, who remains under judicial supervision in France, said the head of France’s DGSE spy agency personally sought to curb free speech on his platform.
Durov says the encounter occurred this spring at Paris’s opulent Hôtel de Crillon, where Nicolas Lerner urged him to ban conservative Romanian channels before their runoff vote.
“This spring at the Salon des Batailles in the Hôtel de Crillon, Nicolas Lerner, head of French intelligence, asked me to ban conservative voices in Romania ahead of elections. I refused,” Durov wrote on X late on Sunday.
His claim casts France’s intelligence apparatus as eager to sway foreign elections under the guise of security.
The centrist Nicusor Dan stunned observers by defeating hard‑right rival George Simion in Romania’s presidential vote on Sunday, triggering relief among Brussels policymakers.
EU officials worry that migration and cost‑of‑living unrest could propel far‑right movements and fracture the bloc’s stance on Russia.
US billionaire Elon Musk, a vocal critic of European free‑speech curbs, reshared Durov’s accusation on X with a single “Wow.”
Earlier Sunday, Durov said he had rebuffed “a Western government” seeking to silence conservatives before Romania’s runoff, even posting a baguette emoji to hint at France.
France’s foreign ministry swiftly denied any interference and urged respect for Romanian democracy.
Durov’s high‑profile arrest last year ignited debate over online speech; Musk, who decried that arrest, now faces a French probe over alleged bias on X.
Critics say Musk’s open backing of right‑wing parties in Germany, Britain and beyond underscores unequal censorship standards between European nations and major tech platforms.
