According to PANews, Telegram founder Pavel Durov revealed on his personal Telegram channel that approximately a year ago, while he was in Paris, the French intelligence agency approached him through intermediaries. They requested his assistance in censoring certain Telegram channels ahead of Moldova's presidential election. Durov noted that the initial list included channels that violated rules, which were subsequently removed. However, the intermediary suggested that in exchange, the French intelligence would speak favorably to the judge who had ordered Durov's arrest.
Following this, Telegram received a second list, where nearly all channels were compliant but were flagged solely for expressing views differing from the French and Moldovan governments. Durov stated that Telegram refused this request and reiterated its stance against deleting content due to political pressure.