Prominent figures in the cryptocurrency community expressed support on social media for billionaire Pavel Durov after French authorities arrested the Telegram founder at an airport near Paris. According to officials, Durov was detained due to his alleged failure to adequately moderate criminal activity on the Telegram platform.

The price of Toncoin (TON) plummeted following the news of Durov’s arrest. Toncoin, a digital asset associated with Telegram, dropped to $5.25, marking its lowest point since August 8 and falling 27% below its highest value this year. Similarly, Notcoin, a token linked to a popular tap-to-earn mini-app on Telegram, declined to $0.0090, a decrease of over 25% from its peak last week. Additionally, Hamster Kombat pre-market futures fell to $0.19, down from last week’s high of $0.2553.

Details of Durov’s arrest remain sparse. However, ongoing investigations are examining whether Telegram and its users are involved in activities such as money laundering, terrorism, and child exploitation. Earlier this month, Telegram faced scrutiny for allowing users to share far-right and neo-Nazi views, which led to organized riots in the UK. The app has also been accused of not cooperating with investigations into drug trafficking, child pornography, and fraud. Telegram denies claims of insufficient moderation.

French President Emmanuel Macron has been enforcing strict content moderation on social media platforms. For instance, Rumble, a competitor to YouTube, had to suspend its operations in France for refusing to block pro-Russian news sources. In response to Durov’s arrest, Rumble’s CEO Chris Pavlovski stated, “France has threatened Rumble, and now they have crossed a red line by arresting Telegram’s CEO, Pavel Durov, reportedly for not censoring speech.”

Other social media platforms also face pressure to moderate content. X (formerly known as Twitter) recently shut down its Brazilian operations after a Supreme Court judge threatened to imprison its employees. X owner Elon Musk has faced criticism from EU Commissioner Thierry Breton for failing to moderate content. Musk equates “moderation” to censorship and has criticized other social media companies, including Meta Platforms and its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, for similar issues.

Telegram, with over 900 million active users, is known for its minimal approach to content moderation. In an interview, Durov mentioned moving from Russia to Dubai after authorities threatened to take over the platform. He also revealed being followed by the FBI during his visits to the U.S.

Durov’s arrest has garnered support from several entrepreneurs. Kim Schmitz, also known as Kim Dotcom, criticized Macron and supported Durov with the hashtag “FreePavel.” The Russian embassy in Paris has requested consular access to ensure Durov’s legal rights are respected, but France has yet to cooperate.

David Sacks, co-founder of Craft and former PayPal COO, suggested that the U.S. might be using France to circumvent First Amendment protections. However, there is no evidence linking the U.S. to Durov’s arrest as of now.

Popular crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe called for Durov’s release, while Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin warned that the arrest could negatively impact software and communication freedom in Europe. Buterin stated, “I’ve criticized Telegram before for not being serious with encryption. But the charge seems to be just being ‘unmoderated’ and not giving up people’s data, which looks very bad and worrying for the future of software and comms freedom in Europe.”

Analyst DaanCrypto noted that Toncoin’s price fell by 20%, with open interest increasing by 55% after the news of Durov’s detention. He warned of potential short squeezes if Durov is released, drawing parallels to the Binance Coin dip after Binance and Changpeng Zhao faced money laundering allegations.

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