Elon Musk posts #FreePavel after Telegram founder’s arrest – and slams Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg | 25 Aug 2024 | Elon Musk defended Telegram co-founder and CEO Pavel Durov following his arrest in Paris on Saturday and slammed fellow social media billionaire Mark Zuckerberg for caving into “censorship pressure.” Musk wrote “#FreePavel” on X hours after the billionaire Russian exile was arrested at Le Bourget airport, reportedly over allegations he has allowed criminal activity to thrive on his encrypted messaging app. French authorities issued a search warrant as part of a preliminary investigation into Durov — a staunch free speech advocate — and Telegram but were only able to act on the warrant if the 39-year-old was on French soil. Musk, who said he bought X – formerly Twitter – to further free speech, slammed the Russian-born tech entrepreneur’s arrest in a post, writing “#FreePavel” while sharing a clip of Durov praising X for heralding innovation and free speech.