Drugs are being sold openly on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram etc So why are the Governments doing nothing to stop them too. It literally takes 5 minutes to find, select and pay for almost anything you want on these platforms and nothing is being done about it. Telegram is doing nothing that these other platforms are not already doing openly..

So what's the real take :

"It looks like he didn't comply"

The very heart and soul of the matter lies here, comply or be sent down like a scurvy dog.

> So why are the Governments doing nothing to stop them too.

You gotta start somewhere.

There're some things not to like about the French. This isn't one of them.

A tu quoque/whataboutism fallacy.

That wrong things happen elsewhere does not mean that investigating this thing is bad, or that the motive for doing so is flawed.

Lets see what happens when the next CEO of a platform that does not respond to a French request for user info or removal of (objectionable/subjective/illegal) material lands in France.

Elon Musk has the largest private ICBM force on the planet. How hard do you think it would be for SpaceX to drop an 18000Kg mass simulator on The Élysée Palace? Do you think he'd have to do it twice?

Lift capacity is one thing and CEP is another. Without soft landing, could SpaceX hit the 8th arrondissement?

Would the current inhabitants of the White House be that upset if the force de frappe double-glazed Texas in response?

CEO who is also a French citizen.

France can arrest him because he's a French citizen, in France.

The CEOs of those other companies would need to be prosecuted by their respective nations, or extradited. I suspect you can guess exactly how an extradition of (eg) Zuckerberg would go.

Incidentally, that's also why the Russian embassy are being ignored. He's a French citizen, which means it's none of their business.

Unless you have diplomatic immunity then, no matter what your nationality, if you break French law and you're in France then you can be arrested and prosecuted for it. There's bugger all your home country can (legally) do about it.

If he were not a French national he would have the right to consular assistance from Russia, however he is a French and Russian national (amongst other nationalities).

I guess that's the downside of going round buying citizenships as if they were going out of fashion.

I'm not sure how consular assistance would help in such a matter: the Durov brothers are not popular at the Kremlin but Telegram is tolerated as a necessary evil after they failed to block it a few years ago. Another way of looking at this: he's able to discuss things with French authorities safely away from Russian influence, which isn't necessarily the case in Dubai.

The Russians use it... a lot, their forces use it to communicate, the state uses it to push misinformation... The only issue they have is that they don't (according to Durov) have unfettered access and a backdoor to everything.

It seems like [1]he came to some agreement with Russia . It might explain why they're so unhappy about him been detained in France.

[1] https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/columns/2024/08/27/7472194/

Telegram is doing nothing that these other platforms are not already doing openly

Telegram is often quoted as being used by the Russians as a means of spreading propaganda. I wonder if there's an ulterior motive here to force some degree of shutdown of Telegram in order to impact pro-Russia/pro-war material?

Just a thought, possibly biased by my perception of the platform. Telegram really wasn't on my radar until a couple of years ago, where every time I heard its name it was in the context of a news report about propaganda claims by the Russians, so the two kind of became interlinked in my mind.

Telegram is doing nothing that these other platforms are not already doing openly

There's a little thing called evidence, police work, and being able to get hold of the people responsible in order to arrest them.

Drugs are being sold openly on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram etc

Until they can come up with some proof that those drugs are being sold in France, and who's selling them there's nothing they can do to stop it. If those platforms don't hand over the data of who's doing it, you arrest somebody important to make the company take notice.

So it seems to me your argument is "they're not doing anything about illegal activities because Telegram aren't cooperating, so they shouldn't be arresting the CEO of Telegram for not cooperating"? That... doesn't make any sense.

Sounds similar to "you play ball with us or you end up with the bat up your a$$". Telegram is used quite a lot by Russia and Ukraine, and has been subjected to significant pressure from Russia to cooperate. The attention seems very selective.

Only has “been viewed by some as an attack on free speech”

I call misinformation on this ;)

"France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so" Macron

This is the same Macron that tried to persuade Durov to have Telegram headquarters moved to France.

Why the fuck does a President have an account on X ?

You're a fucking President, for fuck's sake, and you have a public office and an official Speaker.

Make a statement the official way. X is not a governmental organ.

(does it look like I can't stand Macron, or I can't stand X ? Debate. Hint : it's both)

Because governments still have their PR software wired to Twitter – probably only the last high profile people to as the platform continues to lose relevance outside the conspirasthere™.

I agree that these services should not be used for government announcements; we have press agencies in an attempt to ensure fair access, but it massages their egos to think they have so many followers, even if most of these are bots.

As for Macron? I think he's probably better than the last two, and possibly the last three.

That is a typically French privilege : we can elect a different disaster every five years.

I'm far from a royalist, but looking at the French presidents, especially Macron, means I'd prefer King Charlie over President (call me President Tony) Blair or President (I don't care what you call me, where's the private jet and champers) Johnson.

As much as I wholeheartedly agree with you....

These days a lot of people, especially the younger generation do not read newspapers nor watch news on TV. How else bar social media would you suggest governments interact with their base?

Not even they believe the nonsense they're saying. Given the list of crimes which Telegram has engaged in or facilitated and their lack of co-operation, it's not overreach, it's the way things should be.

Which crimes has Telegram itself been actively engaged in? And which activities are are not also happening on other platforms? Other platforms have also refused to provide the kind of data governments are seeking.

I have no objection to Durov being arrested and charged but I think it will be difficut to make any charges about malpractice on the platform stick against him personally. I think this is likely to be little more than fishing expedition to see what kind of information can be provided about, say, potential terrorists in France.

[1]12 criminal charges that Telegram’s founder is facing in Paris

The last three charges seem merely a failure to follow procedure, but they want to charge him with as much as possible. It's difficult to argue that the other charges are meaningless, even the EFF know that.

[1] https://gulfbusiness.com/telegram-founder-charges-paris/

Show me a platform that complies with all 12 of those. Looks like France police and courts will be busy.

Show me another company where the boss is french?