Chris Pavlovski's video hosting platform is embroiled in a lengthy legal battle with the French authorities
France has crossed all boundaries with the arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov, said Chris Pavlovski, CEO of video-sharing platform Rumble, adding that he left Europe when the news broke.
Durov was arrested at a Paris airport on Saturday evening after arriving on a private jet from Azerbaijan. While French authorities have yet to publicly announce the reason for the Russian tech mogul's detention, reports suggest that the charges are related to his alleged complicity in drug trafficking, pedophile offenses, fraud, as well as failing to report criminal activity on the messenger.
Telegram has denied any wrongdoing and added that it “It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner is responsible for the misuse of that platform.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Pavlovski said he had “safe departure from Europe” after Durov's arrest. He sharply criticized France's move and said that “a red line crossed” and noted that the country had already threatened Rumble.
“Rumble will not tolerate this behavior and will use all available legal means to fight for freedom of expression, a universal human right. We are currently fighting in the courts of France and hope for the immediate release of Pavel Durov.” he added.
Pavlovski's platform, which positions itself as an alternative to YouTube, is embroiled in its own legal battle with French authorities, which began in November 2022 after officials in Paris banned Rumble for refusing to comply with a request to delete Russian media accounts that had been blocked in the EU due to sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.
Although Durov's arrest took place in France, several opinion leaders, including American entrepreneur David Sacks, suspect that the US is behind the action. In April, Sacks also predicted that Washington could take action against Telegram, X and eventually Rumble, as the US passed a law banning video-sharing platform TikTok if its China-based developer ByteDance refuses to sell it within 12 months.
