The Megaupload founder has urged people to stop buying French products and refrain from visiting the country
The founder of the Megaupload file sharing service, Kim Schmitz, more commonly known as Kim Dotcom, has called for a boycott of France over the recent arrest of Telegram creator and CEO Pavel Durov in Paris.
Writing on X on Wednesday, Dotcom urged people to “boycott France until Pavel Durov is released” and called on people to stop spending money on French products and refrain from traveling to the country.
“If you want to fight for free speech, this is the way,” Dotcom wrote.
The 39-year-old Russian entrepreneur was arrested on Saturday upon arriving at the Paris-Le Bourget Airport on a private jet. The Paris public prosecutor’s office has stated that Durov was arrested as part of a broader criminal inquiry against an unnamed person and a French judge has already twice extended his detention.
According to prosecutors, Durov, who also holds French, Emirati, and St Kitts and Nevis citizenship, could face charges ranging from complicity in drug dealing and money laundering, to facilitating the distribution of child pornography. The possible charges reportedly stem from what prosecutors believe to be insufficient moderation of Telegram and Durov’s failure to prevent misuse of the messenger app by bad actors.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also claimed that the Telegram founder’s detention was part of “an ongoing judicial investigation” and was “in no way a political decision.”
Telegram, meanwhile, has stressed that the app “abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act” and has called it “absurd” to claim that the company or its owner are responsible for the misuse of the platform.
Durov’s sudden arrest has sparked a wave of backlash against French authorities from across the globe. Many, including billionaire Elon Musk, American journalist Tucker Carlson, and Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, have described the move as a direct attack on free speech.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has also accused France of holding Durov “hostage” in order to gain access to the private communications of Telegram users. The app currently has approximately one billion active monthly users around the world.
Durov previously stated in an interview with Carlson that he had consistently refused to provide user data to any authorities, including US intelligence services, or to install a surveillance “backdoor” in the app.
