Retired Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who gained attention as a key witness in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, issued a caution to Elon Musk on Sunday following the arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov in France.
Durov was arrested in Paris on Saturday night after a preliminary police investigation into his alleged failure to adequately curb criminal activity on Telegram, as reported by TF1 TV and BFM TV.
While experts and industry leaders have raised concerns about the international free speech implications of Durov’s arrest, Vindman supported the action. He took to X to alert Musk about the “increasing demand for accountability” and suggested that Musk might be the next target.
“While Durov holds French citizenship and was arrested for violating French law, this has broader implications for other social media, including Twitter,” said Vindman. “A increasing hunger for accountability accompanies a growing intolerance for the platforming of misinformation and malicious influence. Musk ought to feel uneasy.
Musk posted the hashtag #FreePavel on social media and denounced Durov’s detention in several postings on X throughout the weekend.
“Dangerous times,” Musk wrote in a post, alluding to censorship enforced by the state.
Similar to WhatsApp, Telegram has over 900 million users, but The New York Times claims that it also enables group chat over multiple channels for large groups of people.
Leading politicians and businessmen supported Durov, claiming that his arrest violated the French government’s right to freedom of expression.
“It is more important than ever to defend free speech,” RFK Jr. stated on X.
“France has threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed a red line by arresting Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, reportedly for not censoring speech,” stated Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski.
Conservative pundit Ian Miles Cheong claimed the arrest was a ruse to discredit the police.
This has to do with stifling criticism and managing information. Their goal is to utilize the internet as an additional tool for their propaganda apparatus. “Right before our eyes, we see the freedom of speech being attacked,” he posted.
Vindman’s warning to Musk appeared to provoke considerable backlash, leading him to double down in a follow-up post where he criticized “free speech absolutist weirdos.”
He wrote, “Enforcement is only likely to increase…” and added that those worried about Durov’s arrest should instead focus on “the fact that your nominee for POTUS is a sexual predator…”
Vindman and his twin brother Eugene Vindman made headlines nationwide in 2020 during the first impeachment of President Trump when Vindman, working with Eugene, revealed Trump’s phone conversation with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine about his first son Hunter Biden’s business dealings in the country. Both men worked for the National Security Council during the Trump administration. Alexander eventually left the military and testified against the previous administration.
