Telegram founder confirms partial removal of channels at Moldova’s request

He made this statement on Sunday, September 28, the day of Moldova’s parliamentary elections.

“About a year ago, when I was stuck in Paris, French intelligence contacted me through an intermediary, asking for help to censor certain Telegram channels ahead of Moldova’s presidential elections. After reviewing the channels flagged by the French (and Moldovan) authorities, we identified a few that clearly violated our rules and removed them,” Durov said.

According to him, a similar request came later.

“Shortly after, the Telegram team received a second list of so-called ‘problematic’ Moldovan channels. Unlike the first list, almost all of these channels were legitimate and fully complied with our rules. The only common feature was that they expressed political positions disliked by the governments of France and Moldova,” the entrepreneur explained.

• On September 26, Moldova’s deputy prime minister accused Russia of launching a cyberattack against the country’s electoral commission days before a parliamentary election.
• Reuters reported that Russia paid Moldovan Orthodox priests with Moscow trips and cash-loaded debit cards to run Telegram channels opposing EU integration during Moldova's elections.