‘Officials confused about who can ban whom’: Telegram CEO Durov hits back after Russia charges him with terrorism

Moscow: Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Thursday slammed Russia’s recent decision to label him a “terrorist” after he refused to comply with state demands for mass censorship and surveillance on his platform.

In a recent statement shared on X, Durov pointed out that he has been banned from “publishing information on the internet” under Russian law.

Mocking the measures, he remarked, “Russia has designated me as a ‘terrorist’ for refusing its demands for mass surveillance and censorship on Telegram. Under Russian law, I’m banned from ‘publishing information on the Internet’. Russian officials are clearly confused about who can ban whom from the Internet.”