Telegram CEO draws support from far-right extremists and activists thriving on the app
Far-right activists, white supremacists and neo-fascists who have built large followings on Telegram are jumping to the defense of the app’s founder, Pavel Durov.
Far-right activists, violent white supremacists and neo-fascists who have built large followings on Telegram are jumping to the defense of the app’s founder, Pavel Durov.
Long before Durov was charged Wednesday with enabling criminality on the app, Telegram became notable as an essential gathering spot for people and groups who had been booted off mainstream social media platforms.
Telegram’s enthusiastic users include a spectrum of right-wing political figures, from conservative pundits and allies of former President Donald Trump to violent extremist groups that have staged white supremacist events. By contrast, it’s rare to find high-profile Democrats or progressives on it.
French prosecutors announced that Durov’s arrest was part of a larger investigation into “complicity” in the spread of child exploitation material and other nefarious activities on the app, but the right-wing Americans who have built followings on Telegram quickly framed the incident as a matter of free speech.
“Darkness is descending fast on the formerly free world,” conservative media figure Tucker Carlson, who has a large following on Telegram, wrote on X this week.
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