Russia’s Top MP: Washington Behind Telegram CEO’s Arrest

By Staff, Agencies

Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has accused the US government of seeking "total control" over social media platforms, asserting that this ambition led to the arrest of Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, a messaging app that remains beyond Washington’s influence.

Volodin made these remarks on Telegram just three days after Durov's detention in France, suggesting that US President Joe Biden aims to gain control over Telegram before the upcoming November election.

“Telegram is one of the few, yet among the largest, internet platforms over which the US has no influence. Meanwhile, it operates in many countries that are strategically significant to Washington,” Volodin stated.

He emphasized that Telegram, with nearly a billion registered users worldwide – primarily in India and Russia – has resisted US attempts to extract user data, unlike most other global social media networks, which Volodin claims are controlled by the US government.

Volodin's comments echo earlier statements by Georgy Loboushkin, Durov’s former press secretarysaid that the US had likely orchestrated the attack on Durov, noting that American authorities have long been targeting the Telegram founder.

Durov, who was arrested on Saturday upon his arrival in Paris, previously revealed in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson that he had drawn "too much attention" from the FBI and other US law enforcement agencies during his time in the US Durov also claimed that these agencies had attempted to recruit Telegram employees to create a "backdoor" into the app.

Volodin further said that the US has traditionally used social networks for surveillance, censorship, and political manipulation, often employing tactics like blackmail under the pretext of combating various threats.

He suggested that the US might have used France to target Durov, who holds French citizenship in addition to being a citizen of Russia, the UAE, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

In response to Durov’s arrest, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday that Durov faces a range of potential charges, including complicity in drug dealing, money laundering, and facilitating the distribution of child pornography.

However, French President Emmanuel Macron denied any political motives behind Durov’s arrest, stating that it was part of “an ongoing judicial investigation.”