MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Bernama-Sputnik) -- After Telegram founder Pavel Durov was detained in France, US entrepreneur Elon Musk said that by 2030, Europe will begin executing people for liking humorous images (memes) on the Internet.
"POV: It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme," Musk said on X, formerly known as Twitter, commenting on a report about Durov's detention, Russian news agency (Sputnik) reported.
In a separate post, Musk noted that Durov's arrest was a "convincing" advertisement for the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which states that the state should not infringe on freedom of speech.
Earlier, French media reported that Durov had been detained at the airport in the Paris suburb of Le Bourget. Durov, who has French citizenship, was on France's wanted list. He was taken into custody.
On Aug 19, Sputnik reported that the municipality of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, had banned government employees from using the Telegram messenger on their work phones due to espionage concerns, the BNR radio reported on Monday, citing Alexander Scholtes, a city council member responsible for the city's IT (information technology) policy.
Scholtes confirmed to the radio that the ban had been implemented at the end of April, citing "criminal activities within the app and the risk of espionage" as the primary reason for the decision, the report said.
The official also called Telegram "a safe haven for hackers, cybercriminals and drug traffickers," BNR reported.
Although Telegram was created in Russia, its headquarters is located in Dubai, with the company officially registered in the Virgin Islands.
Other municipalities in the Netherlands reportedly have not imposed similar bans on Telegram.
In June, the Dutch newspaper NL Times reported that the Amsterdam municipality would stop using cameras manufactured in China due to concerns about human rights violations and espionage. Chinese cameras are expected to be phased out within five years.
-- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
