Did the EU Push Telegram’s Durov to Nudge Moldovan Elections?
The post Did the EU Push Telegram’s Durov to Nudge Moldovan Elections? appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Telegram CEO Pavel Durov made flagrant claims about Moldova’s elections, stating that French authorities pressured him to ban pro-Russian channels. This allegedly happened roughly a year ago. As Russia and the EU both exerted extraordinary pressure on the tiny nation, Telegram, crypto, and other Web3 infrastructure enabled new tactics. This could damage popular confidence in future elections. Sponsored Sponsored Durov’s Moldovan Accusations Moldova’s elections took place yesterday, and foreign policy clearly became the defining issue for the nation. Should the government pursue EU membership or détente with Russia? Last week, investigators identified a pro-Russian campaign that used crypto to fund candidates, activists, polling operations, and more. However, the waters have since muddied significantly, as it seems that pro-EU figures also took extraordinary measures to nudge the outcome. Specifically, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov accused French officials of leaning on him to influence Moldova’s elections: 🇲🇩 About a year ago, while I was stuck in Paris, the French intelligence services reached out to me through an intermediary, asking me to help the Moldovan government censor certain Telegram channels ahead of the presidential elections in Moldova. After reviewing the channels… — Pavel Durov (@durov) September 28, 2025 Durov did not claim that this Moldova meddling happened recently; allegedly, it took place during his arrest in France last year. Specifically, he claimed that French intelligence asked him to ban a few Telegram channels for election meddling. The list, flagged by French and Moldovan officials, entirely consisted of pro-Russian groups. Did EU Officials Commit Blackmail? Durov examined these suspect Moldovan channels, and determined that several of them indeed violated Telegram’s terms of service. After removing them, he claimed that French intelligence said it would “say good things” about him to the presiding judge. Then came subsequent requests to ban more pro-Russia channels, which Durov refused.…
