Durov: EU/UK use child safety to censor dissent

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has accused the European Union and United Kingdom of using child protection regulations as a legal and public relations cover to censor political dissent on social networks. He alleges regulators offer platform CEOs secret deals to implement censorship, threatening them with criminal prosecution if they refuse. Durov claims officials then justify these actions to the public by framing them as necessary for child safety. The statement was posted on his Telegram channel, which is often critical of Western tech regulation.