A storm of controversy has emerged surrounding Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, who was arrested at Bourget airport in Paris just weeks after a massive leak of one million hacked Israeli government files surfaced on his platform. Allegations have surfaced linking his arrest to the release of these documents, which allegedly detail efforts by Israel to sidestep U.S. lobbying regulations. As Durov faces potential charges that could lead to a long prison sentence, the incident raises critical questions about user privacy, government overreach, and the ongoing battle for free speech in the digital age. Meanwhile, Gab.com CEO Andrew Torba draws parallels between his own experiences and Durov's plight, highlighting the relentless challenges faced by platforms that prioritize user freedom against powerful state interests.
NN: It has come to light that just a few weeks before Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested at Bourget airport in Paris, someone published one million hacked files from the Israeli government on the messaging platform.
DDoSecrets was believed to be the culprit, and Telegram banned the group not long after the documents were released. Then, just days after that, Durov was apprehended and now faces trumped-up charges that could land him in the slammer for 20 years.
According to Gab.com CEO Andrew Torba, the hacked documents reveal that the Israeli government sought legal counsel on how to avoid having to comply with registering under the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), a law that requires foreign-backed lobbying campaigns to make themselves known with disclosure.
Israel apparently does not want the American public to readily know that it practically controls Washington from Tel Aviv, so officials in the Israeli government proposed the creation of a new American "nonprofit" that would allow Israel to continue its foreign lobbying agenda while evading the law.
"Durov is notorious for his defense of user privacy and is known to deny government requests for access to user data," Torba notes. "One has to wonder if these two events are connected."
Telegram and Gab fighting in the trenches
Torba says he can relate to Durov since he himself was advised by lawyers to avoid traveling outside the United States to avoid possibly facing his own arrest. Gab, after all, has been in the deep state's crosshairs just like Telegram is.
Gab has never worked with a single foreign government whenever one petitions for user data, usually under the guise of fighting "hate speech." Because of this, Torba's company is on the hook for criminal penalties in some areas of the world.
"For example I have large fines over my head in Germany for refusing to abide by their censorship and data requests," Torba writes. "These requests are always tyrannical and ridiculous. For example a few months ago we received a data request for a user who called one of their politicians fat."
Like Durov, Torba is committed to free speech even though it puts him at risk. The following is a list of Gab's "many battle scars that we were only able to overcome by the grace of God," Torba writes:
- A bogus witch hunt investigation from (the then) Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro
- Bomb threats at Torba's parents' home that prompted a visit from the FBI and the shutdown of a local elementary school
- Being smeared and lied about relentlessly by the international press with hundreds of published articles
- Gab's Wikipedia page getting taken over by communist Antifa administrators who still "camp" on the page to this very day
- Getting banned from half a dozen banks
- Getting banned from both App Stores (Apple, Android)
- Getting banned from dozens of payment processors
- Getting placed on the MATCH list, a payment processor blacklist
- Getting extorted by mentally ill "trans" hackers
- Getting banned from multiple cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase and Gemini
- Having his family and children threatened endlessly and doxxed
- Being targeted by multinational activist organizations and foreign operatives like the ADL and SPLC
- Getting harassed by multiple foreign governments
- Getting bullied by Congress and the J6 Select Committee
Despite all this, Gab still stands, boasting around 50 million unique visitors monthly. The same is true of Telegram, the popularity of which continues to soar the more the deep state amps up its crusade against free speech.
