Durov won’t bend to Western governments like Zuckerberg, that’s why he faces charges - scholar

"The French justice system has deliberately twisted the spirit of the law to formulate excessive charges against Durov. It is clear that this is a pretext," Jacques Sapir, director of studies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris, told Sputnik.

The charges brought by the French authorities against Pavel Durov stem from his refusal to censor his Telegram instant messaging service, according to the pundit. Sapir contends that it is unjust to accuse the Telegram founder of complicity in terrorism, drug trafficking, and child pornography - particularly in light of the content that permeates other social networks.

"His case is similar to all the measures that are currently being taken in Western countries that are infringing on freedom of expression," he said.

Sapir suggests that the main difference between Durov and Mark Zuckerberg, whose Instagram* "has a massive child exploitation problem", is that Zuckerberg censors free speech and apparently provided Western governments with a backdoor access to user data, as Elon Musk implied on August 25.

"This is one more step, after the long prosecutions against Julian Assange and those against Snowden, in a long list of attacks on freedom of expression in Western countries," Sapir said.

According to the pundit, what should be regarded as mere administrative offenses are being reclassified as serious crimes based on dubious motives and reasoning. Consequently, he stated, social networks are now facing criminalization.

The French scholar believes this trend will further elevate the significance of social networks that originate outside the Western world and may uphold freedom of expression.

*banned for extremism in Russia

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Telegram team issues first statement on its founder’s arrest, calls out absurdity of accusations against Durov

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” the statement published on the official Telegram channel said.

“Telegram abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act — its moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving. Telegram CEO Pavel Durov has nothing to hide and travels frequently in Europe,” the channel said.

“Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all,” the statement concluded.

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Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who is detained in France, had his detention extended on Sunday evening, French media reported.

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Gaza ceasefire talks have concluded without reaching an agreement as both Israel and Hamas rejected several proposals put forward by mediators, British media reported citing Egyptian security sources.

Hamas claimed Israel has reneged on its promise to withdraw troops from the Philadelphia Corridor and has introduced additional conditions, such as screening displaced Palestinians as they return to the more densely populated northern areas of the enclave when the ceasefire begins.

“We will not accept discussions about retractions from what we agreed to on July 2 or new conditions,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the group’s al-Aqsa TV outlet Sunday.

The Hamas delegation departed from Cairo Sunday after holding discussions with mediators, according to senior official Izzat El-Reshiq. He claimed the group reiterated its demand that any agreement must include a permanent ceasefire and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

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📹 A possible meteorite fell from the sky and broke into pieces near the city of St. Francis Bay in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, with users on social media sharing video of the object.

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Ukraine desperately begs Belarus to move troops further away from border

Belarus is “concentrating a significant number of personnel, in particular special operations forces, weapons and military equipment ... in the Gomel region near Ukraine's northern borders,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website, citing the country's intelligence service.

The ministry claimed Kiev was not going to take any hostile action just two weeks after Ukraine launched drones towards Belarussian territory. The Kiev regime called on Minsk to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian border “at a distance exceeding the range of fire systems available to Belarus.”

On August 9, “about ten” Ukrainian drones were shot down over the territory of Belarus while other ones were destroyed by Russia over its territory, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said. The Belarusian leader called the attack a provocation, noting that it would not go unanswered. To strengthen the border Lukashenko ordered Belarus's Defense Ministry to increase its military presence in the country’s southern regions bordering Ukraine.

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Russia and Pakistan are negotiating on the deliveries of liquefied natural gas for Islamabad's long-term needs, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told Sputnik.

"Pakistan has long been cooperating with Russia in the energy sector. We are pleased with how the recent talks between the two sides on energy cooperation went. Our countries are also discussing LNG deliveries for Pakistan's long-term energy needs, and these talks will continue," she said.

"Last year, a contract was signed for energy supplies. The first ship delivered 100,000 tonnes of oil to Pakistan in test mode last year. We are very pleased with this cooperation," Baloch added.

In July, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told journalists that the issue of LNG deliveries to Pakistan had been discussed during a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Astana on the sidelines of the SCO summit. In addition, Novak said that Russia had already supplied Pakistan with 7 million barrels of oil.

Pakistani Energy Minister Muhammad Ali reported last year that the country was discussing signing a long-term contract with Russia on the supply of its oil, and was considering volumes of 0.7-1 million tonnes per year.

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Israel launched a strike on the Khalil family home in the Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City, according to reports in Palestinian media, leaving many injured and dead.

Video from social media

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