Elon Musk Warned After Tech CEO Arrested for Refusing to Censor Users
By Movieguide® Contributor
Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman has issued a warning for Elon Musk following the arrest of fellow tech CEO Pavel Durov.
Durov, CEO of messaging app Telegram, was arrested in Paris this past weekend for “his alleged failure to sufficiently limit criminal activity on Telegram,” per Fox News.
CNBC reported that France’s Ofmin, an organization responsible for protecting minors from violence, “issued an arrest warrant for Durov over accusations of organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, cyberbullying and the promotion of terrorism on his platform.”
While many were concerned about the implications Durov’s arrest has on free speech, Vindman, who served as a key witness in the impeachment trial against former president Donald Trump, celebrated the move.
“While Durov holds French citizenship, is arrested for violating French law, this has broader implications for other social media, including Twitter,” he posted on X. “There’s a growing intolerance for platforming disinfo & malign influence & a growing appetite for accountability. Musk should be nervous.”
While Durov holds French citizenship, is arrested for violating French law, this has broader implications for other social media, including Twitter. There’s a growing intolerance for platforming disinfo & malign influence & a growing appetite for accountability. Musk should be… https://t.co/GyPMquKtKV
— Alexander S. Vindman ❎ (@AVindman) August 25, 2024
Musk did not reply to Vindman’s tweet but commented on another post that referred to Durov’s arrest, writing, “Dangerous times.”
Dangerous times https://t.co/FuB6NEWOqr
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, issued a statement about Durov’s arrest via X.
“I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov,” he wrote. “France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so.”
President Macron continued, “In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights. It is up to the judiciary, in full independence, to enforce the law.”
“The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter,” he concluded.
I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov.
France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so.
In a state governed by the rule of law,…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 26, 2024
Movieguide® previously reported on the pressures Musk is facing to censor users on X:
Internet freedom advocate Mike Benz recently explained that Elon Musk is facing pressure to censor right-leaning users on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, heading into the 2024 election.
“[Musk is] under and extraordinary amount of pressure [to censor conservative users], and that pressure opinions is going to continue to mount as the election approaches,” Benz, a former cyber official with the State Department, told Tucker Carlson.
“I think there are 7 or 8 different Justice Department or SEC or FTC investigations into Elon Musk properties that all started after his acquisition of X,” he added.
However, despite the growing pressure, Benz believes Musk’s other properties give him the leverage he needs. Because the government relies on his SpaceX rockets and the batteries he produces, they cannot completely strong-arm him into complying with their will. Nonetheless, Benz believes they will have their way through a “death by a thousand cuts” approach.
“There are dependencies that the national security has on Elon Musk. I’m not sure he’d have as much room to negotiate if he had become the world’s richest man, selling at a lemonade stand,” Benz explained.
“If the national security state goes too hard on him by invoking something like [the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States] to sort of nationalize some of these properties, I think the shockwave that it would send to the international investor community would be irrecoverable at a time when we’re engaged in great power competition,” he continued.