Spain has accused Pavel Durov of “spreading lies” and seeking to undermine democratic institutions after the Telegram founder used the messaging app to attack government [plans to introduce a social media ban for under-16s](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/04/spain-under-16-social-media-ban-elon-musk-insults) and to hold tech companies responsible for hateful and harmful content.
Durov’s extraordinary public intervention – which came a day after Elon Musk called Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, a [“true fascist totalitarian”](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/04/spain-under-16-social-media-ban-elon-musk-insults) over the proposed measures – reveals the rapidly escalating tensions between European governments and powerful global technology chiefs.
In a blanket message sent to all [Telegram](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/telegram) users in Spain on Wednesday afternoon, the Russian technology entrepreneur accused Sánchez’s government of “pushing dangerous new regulations that threaten your internet freedoms”, adding that the measures could turn Spain “into a surveillance state under the guise of ‘protection’”.
Durov claimed the mandatory age verification contained in the proposed legislation would set a precedent for tracking “EVERY user’s identity, eroding anonymity and opening doors to mass data collection”. He also said that holding tech executives liable for illegal, hateful or harmful content would encourage “over-censorship” and lead platforms to “delete anything remotely controversial to avoid risks, silencing political dissent, journalism, and everyday opinions”.
Spanish government sources hit back, saying Durov’s unprecedented message to millions of users was designed to erode trust in institutions and demonstrated the need for social media and mobile messaging apps to be regulated.
“Telegram founder [Pavel Durov](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/pavel-durov) used his unrestricted control of the app to send a mass message to all users in Spain, spreading several lies and making illegitimate attacks against the government. This is the first time this has happened in our country’s history,” they said.
“Spaniards cannot live in a world where foreign tech oligarchs can flood our phones with propaganda at will simply because the government has announced measures to protect minors and enforce the law.”
Following the arrest, Telegram released a statement saying its chief executive “had nothing to hide” and that it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform”.
“Protecting children online is only ‘controversial’ for those who profit from not doing it. Everyone else agrees,” [u/FrenchResponse replied on X](https://x.com/FrenchResponse/status/2019044955180896471) to Durov’s claim that Europe was “weaponising child protection to legitimise censorship and mass surveillance”.
The FrenchResponse account first made a splash on 11 January, quote-replying to a post from Musk that asked “Why is the UK government so fascist?” with a photo of the X owner making what resembled a Nazi salute during Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, praised the account’s strategy last month, saying: “The only right attitude, in the information war that has begun, is to raise our voice and to turn up the volume.”
The corrupt Spanish government is doing anything in their hands to divert attention from the problems in the country and the corruption scandals of Dirty Sanchez.
[deleted]
Spain gov can go fuck themselves after I learned that they basically turn off internet on football cup days
Why would any Spaniard would want to continue using an app where the owner that controls it decides to blast everyone with personal propaganda points of view ?
Loved Sánchez’s response: “let the tech-oligarchs bark, it means we’re on the right track”.
After seeing what this scum praises, their whining becomes the only thing I want to hear.
7 comments
Spain has accused Pavel Durov of “spreading lies” and seeking to undermine democratic institutions after the Telegram founder used the messaging app to attack government [plans to introduce a social media ban for under-16s](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/04/spain-under-16-social-media-ban-elon-musk-insults) and to hold tech companies responsible for hateful and harmful content.
Durov’s extraordinary public intervention – which came a day after Elon Musk called Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, a [“true fascist totalitarian”](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/04/spain-under-16-social-media-ban-elon-musk-insults) over the proposed measures – reveals the rapidly escalating tensions between European governments and powerful global technology chiefs.
In a blanket message sent to all [Telegram](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/telegram) users in Spain on Wednesday afternoon, the Russian technology entrepreneur accused Sánchez’s government of “pushing dangerous new regulations that threaten your internet freedoms”, adding that the measures could turn Spain “into a surveillance state under the guise of ‘protection’”.
Durov claimed the mandatory age verification contained in the proposed legislation would set a precedent for tracking “EVERY user’s identity, eroding anonymity and opening doors to mass data collection”. He also said that holding tech executives liable for illegal, hateful or harmful content would encourage “over-censorship” and lead platforms to “delete anything remotely controversial to avoid risks, silencing political dissent, journalism, and everyday opinions”.
Spanish government sources hit back, saying Durov’s unprecedented message to millions of users was designed to erode trust in institutions and demonstrated the need for social media and mobile messaging apps to be regulated.
“Telegram founder [Pavel Durov](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/pavel-durov) used his unrestricted control of the app to send a mass message to all users in Spain, spreading several lies and making illegitimate attacks against the government. This is the first time this has happened in our country’s history,” they said.
“Spaniards cannot live in a world where foreign tech oligarchs can flood our phones with propaganda at will simply because the government has announced measures to protect minors and enforce the law.”
Durov was [arrested in Paris in August 2024](https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/25/telegram-app-founder-pavel-durov-to-appear-in-court-after-arrest-in-paris) as part of an inquiry into allegations of fraud, drug trafficking, organised crime, promotion of terrorism and cyberbullying. He was detained on suspicion of failing to take action to curb the allegedly [criminal use of his platform](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/07/why-telegram-is-the-go-to-app-for-those-wanting-to-spread-toxic-information) and was eventually charged with 12 offences. He was later released under judicial supervision and has denied all the charges against him, describing his arrest as[ “legally and logically absurd”](https://www.aol.com/one-arrest-pavel-durov-says-104351548.html) and saying investigators were “struggling to find anything that I or Telegram did wrong”.
Following the arrest, Telegram released a statement saying its chief executive “had nothing to hide” and that it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform”.
The Spanish government statement released on Wednesday said Durov had “deliberately designed a minimal moderation architecture that has turned Telegram into a recurring space for documented criminal activities such as child sex trafficking and drug trafficking”, with cases under investigation in [Spain](https://english.elpais.com/technology/2024-03-24/telegram-suspension-in-spain-its-like-closing-a-province-because-a-robbery-occurred-there.html), [France](https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/aug/26/what-is-telegram-why-has-founder-pavel-durov-been-arrested) and [South Korea](https://www.npr.org/2024/09/06/nx-s1-5101891/south-korea-deepfake).
“Protecting children online is only ‘controversial’ for those who profit from not doing it. Everyone else agrees,” [u/FrenchResponse replied on X](https://x.com/FrenchResponse/status/2019044955180896471) to Durov’s claim that Europe was “weaponising child protection to legitimise censorship and mass surveillance”.
The FrenchResponse account first made a splash on 11 January, quote-replying to a post from Musk that asked “Why is the UK government so fascist?” with a photo of the X owner making what resembled a Nazi salute during Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, praised the account’s strategy last month, saying: “The only right attitude, in the information war that has begun, is to raise our voice and to turn up the volume.”
The corrupt Spanish government is doing anything in their hands to divert attention from the problems in the country and the corruption scandals of Dirty Sanchez.
[deleted]
Spain gov can go fuck themselves after I learned that they basically turn off internet on football cup days
Why would any Spaniard would want to continue using an app where the owner that controls it decides to blast everyone with personal propaganda points of view ?
Loved Sánchez’s response: “let the tech-oligarchs bark, it means we’re on the right track”.
After seeing what this scum praises, their whining becomes the only thing I want to hear.