Telegram founder Pavel Durov warned that France may experience a societal collapse if it continues down its current political trajectory of censorship and regulatory policies during an interview on Wednesday.
“Emmanuel Macron isn’t making the right choices. I’m very disappointed. France is getting weaker and weaker,” Durov said in a translated excerpt from an interview with French outlet Le Point. Durov added:
“If you raise one or two generations with a certain mindset, it then takes decades to change it. If we continue to waste time, the risk increases that the country will have to undergo very extreme changes.
When we delay necessary reforms too long, we end up experiencing a collapse,” the Telegram founder continued, warning that France was losing talent to other jurisdictions like Dubai.
In early June, Durov appeared for an interview with Tucker Carlson, as the Telegram founder continued his media campaign following his August 2024 arrest in France.
The arrest drew widespread condemnation from the crypto community, civil rights activists and human rights foundations, which continue to monitor the case of Durov and its implications for free speech, self-expression, and political opinion in the digital age.
Related: Telegram founder Durov on arrest, detention in France: ‘I’m confused’
Claims that French intelligence sought to censor EU election content
The Telegram founder also recounted claims that French intelligence services asked him to censor pro-conservative content related to the May 2025 Romanian presidential election.
Durov said that Nicolas Lerner, the head of French intelligence services, approached him at the Hôtel de Crillon and asked to censor the content on the platform, a request he says he denied.
Durov argued that laws like the European Union’s Digital Services Act are a trojan horse for censorship cloaked as consumer protection regulations and vehicles to fight misinformation or promote online safety.
“These laws are dangerous because they can be used against those who created them. Today, they target those labeled conspiracy theorists. Tomorrow, they may target their authors,” Durov said in the interview.
Magazine: Did Telegram’s Pavel Durov commit a crime? Crypto lawyers weigh in