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Telegram laminitis Pavel Durov connected Wednesday joined Elon Musk successful publically criticising plans by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to prohibition societal media entree for younker nether 16 and to prosecute executives for hatred code connected their platforms.
Durov said successful a connection connected Telegram to users that Spain’s projected legislative bundle would unit societal media platforms to stitchery information connected each users, and its measures to curb hatred code would punctual platforms to portion contented to debar prosecution.
The connection by Sanchez would criminalise the usage of algorithms deemed to beryllium amplifying harmful content, and Durov, who is based in Dubai, said this would let governments to power what users see.
“These aren’t safeguards; they’re steps toward full control. We’ve seen this playbook earlier - governments weaponizing ‘safety’ to censor critics,” helium wrote connected Telegram.
The Spanish premier minister’s bureau defended its plans, saying Durov’s wide connection to each Spanish users of Telegram showed the urgent need to modulate societal media and messaging apps to support citizens from misleading information. It said Durov took vantage of his “unrestricted control” of the app to connection each Spanish users, and accused him of spreading lies.
“Spaniards cannot unrecorded successful a world wherever overseas tech oligarchs tin flood our phones with propaganda astatine their volition simply due to the fact that the authorities has announced measures to support minors and enforce the law,” the bureau said successful a statement.
Sanchez, 1 of a dwindling set of leftist leaders successful Europe, has been criticising exertion platforms since aboriginal past twelvemonth erstwhile helium projected ending anonymity connected societal media and linking users’ data to a communal EU individuality wallet.
His wider run against disinformation began earlier and was instigated by what helium described arsenic a right-wing smear run against his household implicit the probe into allegations of power peddling against his wife, Begona Gomez. She denies the accusations and the lawsuit is ongoing.
Spain joins countries specified arsenic Britain, Greece and France successful considering tougher stances connected societal media, aft Australia successful December became the archetypal federation to prohibit entree to specified platforms for children younger than 16.
Russian-born Durov was detained successful Paris successful August 2024 implicit alleged transgression activities connected the messaging app. In March 2025, helium denied immoderate wrongdoing.
His connection astir the Spanish plans was forwarded from an relationship successful his sanction to a transmission that normally advises Telegram users astir information and relationship issues.
Musk, the proprietor of X, has besides condemned Sanchez’s projected measures, describing him successful an X station connected Monday arsenic “a tyrant and a traitor to the radical of Spain”.
Representatives of Google, portion of Alphabet, TikTok, Snapchat and Meta did not respond to requests for remark connected Spain’s projected measures.
