Washington behind Durov’s arrest – Russia’s top MP

The US wants to control the Telegram messaging platform, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has claimed

The US government wants “total control” of social media, which is why it orchestrated the arrest of Pavel Durov, the CEO of Telegram, a messaging platform it so far has no influence over, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has claimed.

The senior lawmaker took to Telegram on Tuesday, three days after Durov’s detention in France, to argue that US President Joe Biden wants to take control of the messaging app before the election in November.

“Telegram is one of the few, yet among the largest, internet platforms over which the US has no influence. At the same time, it operates in many countries that are of interest” to Washington, Volodin said.

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The platform has nearly a billion registered users worldwide and is most actively used in India and Russia, according to World Population Review.

Volodin pointed out that most global social media networks are of US origin and claimed that the White House controls them. However, the US has not been able to force Dubai-based Telegram and its Russian-born owner to supply data to the State Department or CIA, he argued.

A similar view was earlier voiced by Durov’s former press secretary, Georgy Loboushkin, who told RT on Sunday that the attack on the entrepreneur “most likely” came from the US, which “has been after Pavel Durov for a long time.” 

Durov, who was arrested on Saturday night upon arriving in Paris, told American journalist Tucker Carlson in April that he had received “too much attention” from the FBI and other American law enforcement agencies while on US soil. He also claimed that US agencies had tried to recruit Telegram employees and convince them to create a 'backdoor' into the messenger.

READ MORE: US orchestrated Durov arrest – former spokesman

“For Washington, using social networks for surveillance, their total censorship and subjugation, including by blackmail under the guise of combating various threats, are traditional ways of exercising political and external influence,” claimed Volodin.

The Duma speaker also suggested that the US had used France to get its hands on Durov, who holds French citizenship. He is also a citizen of Russia, the UAE, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office on Monday announced a dozen potential charges against Durov, ranging from complicity in drug dealing and money laundering, to facilitating the distribution of child pornography.

READ MORE: French prosecutors reveal potential charges against Durov

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday denied that there was any political motive behind Durov’s arrest, stating that it took place as part of “an ongoing judicial investigation.”