Telegram founder Pavel Durov wrote that the government of one of the European countries, hinting at France, asked to block "conservative" channels before the elections in Romania. The Ministries of Foreign Affairs of France and Romania reacted, reports UNN.
A Western European government (guess which one? 🥖) has approached Telegram with a request to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today's presidential elections. I flatly refused. Telegram will not restrict the freedom of Romanian users or block their political channels. You can't "protect democracy" by destroying democracy. You cannot "fight election interference" by interfering in elections
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Later, in response, the French Foreign Ministry called Durov's accusations "unfounded" and categorically rejected them.
The first round of the presidential elections in Romania last December was sovereignly annulled by the competent Romanian authorities after very real digital and financial interference by entities linked to Russia... In this context, the recent accusations against France are only a distraction from the real threats of interference in Romania's affairs. France calls on all Romanian political figures to show responsibility and protect democracy
In addition, the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced signs of Russian interference in the presidential elections.
"A viral campaign of fake news on Telegram and other social networks is aimed at influencing the electoral process. This was expected, and the authorities have denied this fake news," the statement said.