Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday backed Telegram founder Pavel Durov, saying Mark Zuckerberg should be arrested for the “massive child abuse” problem on his Meta-owned Instagram.
The billionaire’s reaction comes after Russian-born Pavel Durov, the founder and owner of the popular encrypted messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France on multiple charges related to his platform, and could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Mr Musk said Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg had “already succumbed to censorship pressure”.
“Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem but no arrests of Zuck because he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data,” X’s owner posted.
Because he had already succumbed to the pressure of censorship.
Instagram has a huge child abuse problem, but there have been no arrests of Zuck because he restricts freedom of expression and gives governments secret access to user data.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024
He further added that “it’s 2030 in Europe and you’re getting murdered for liking a meme”.
“It’s extremely important to support free expression that you send X-Post to people you know, especially in countries with censorship,” the tech billionaire said.
In February this year, Mr Zuckerberg apologised to the families of victims of online child sexual abuse during a Senate hearing at Capitol Hill.
The billionaire entrepreneur told the parents that “I’m sorry for what you all have gone through. No one should have to go through what your families have gone through”.
“And that’s why we invest so much, and we’ll continue to invest in industry-wide efforts, to make sure that no one has to go through what your families have gone through,” he added.
In May this year, Mr Musk had said Zuckerberg-run Meta was “too greedy” in taking credit for advertisers running campaigns on its platform.
X’s owner responded that “We’re very bad at taking credit, and Meta is very greedy at taking credit.”
The rivalry between Mr Musk and Mr Zuckerberg is well known. Some time ago they were set for a “cage fight” – touted as the fight of the century. However, the much-anticipated bout between the two was cancelled.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
