The Leader of France's Les Patriotes party, Florian Philippot, blasted President Emmanual Macron's government as one of "lunatics" after authorities arrested Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov on Saturday. 

Earlier, French media reported that the Russian-born entrepreneur was arrested at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday, claiming his detention comes as part of a preliminary police investigation. Durov is set to appear in court on Sunday evening. 

French authorities had allegedly issued a warrant for Durov’s arrest, citing concerns that insufficient content moderation on Telegram enables widespread criminal use of the platform.

According to Philippot, France offered "its tyrannical face to the world" after its detention of Durov, who added, "We should free ourselves from these lunatics." 

Incroyable ! ⤵️

À l’aéroport du Bourget, le PDG et fondateur du réseau social #Telegram a été arrêté cette nuit par la police française, mis en détention provisoire et risque 20 ans de prison !

Pourquoi ? « Pour absence de modération, de coopération avec les forces de l’ordre,… pic.twitter.com/zPIspVnKLT

— Florian Philippot (@f_philippot) August 25, 2024

In the same post on X, Philippot says "Tomorrow @elonmusk thrown in prison if he sets foot in France, for disobedience to the European regulation #DSA of censorship?!" in an attempt to describe the absurdity of Durov's arrest, which he has deemed an "attack on freedom of expression."

The French politician has been heavily active on social media under a campaign titled #LibérezPavelDurov [Liberate Pavel Dyrov]. 

Russian officials respond to Durov'a arrest

Ekaterina Mizulina, head of Russia’s Safe Internet League, said that the French authorities’ decision to detain Pavel Durov was not made independently, noting that "It is obvious that the arrest is an attack on TON (a blockchain-based platform originally developed by Telegram’s creators) in which major Russian companies have invested. 

Vladislav Davankov, the deputy speaker of the Russian parliament, urged France to release Durov, expressing concerns that the arrest might be politically driven and used as a means to gain access to Telegram users' personal data, a scenario that "Russia cannot allow".

Moreover, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova questioned whether international human rights groups would pressure France after its authorities detained Durov as they did when Russia proposed regulations for the platform's operations. 

Zakharova took to the Foreign Ministry's Telegram channel to recount a 2018 incident during which 28 non-governmental organizations, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Freedom House, and Reporters Without Borders, launched a condemnation campaign against Russia over plans to ban the platform in the country. 

"What do you think, will they [the NGOs] appeal to Paris this time and demand Durov’s release, or will they swallow their tongues?" she questioned.