Pavel Durov Barred from In-Person Attendance at Oslo Freedom Forum Creator of Telegram Pavel Durov was barred from in-person attendance at the 2025 Oslo Freedom Forum after French courts denied his request to travel to Norway. The Human Rights Foundation (HRF), which hosts the annual summit for individual freedoms and human rights, confirmed Durov will address remotely by livestream instead. It’s unfortunate the French courts would disallow Mr. Durov from joining a platform where his voice is so needed,” said HRF founder and CEO Thor Halvorssen. Durov, who has long spoken about digital freedom of speech, has been a vocal figure in the crypto and technology space because he refused to succumb to censorship demands from authoritarian regimes. Durov Accuses French Censorship Request Before Romanian Elections The travel ban follows disputed claims by Durov of being threatened by French spies to censor rightwing voices on Telegram. Durov, in a May 18 telegram post, accused Nicolas Lerner, head of France’s General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), of asking him to ban political voices related to Romania’s upcoming presidential elections. The meeting took place at Paris’s Hôtel de Crillon, where Lerner supposedly requested moderation of speech that was conservative-leaning, stated Durov. “You can’t ‘defend democracy’ by destroying democracy,” Durov replied with rejection of the request. He went on to tweet on X that Telegram would not begin censoring when it rejected demands to do so in Russia, Iran, or Belarus. Telegram’s Unwavering Stand on Free Speech Durov reaffirmed Telegram will never succumb to political pressure to censor and would sooner leave a market than sacrifice its very foundations. Calling the request a blatant violation of human rights, Durov maintains freedom of expression must be safeguarded everywhere—not on an ad hoc basis based on politics. The HRF and other digital rights organizations view the travel block as one of many signs of growing tensions between states and technology platforms about information control.
