25 Aug, 2024 14:33

Rally held at Moscow’s French embassy to demand Durov’s release (PHOTOS)

Demonstrators have placed hundreds of paper airplanes in front of the diplomatic mission in support of Telegram’s detained founder

Hundreds of paper planes symbolizing the logo of Telegram have been brought by supporters of Pavel Durov to the French embassy in Moscow, in a demonstration of support for the messaging platform’s CEO in response to his detention in Paris.

The Russian entrepreneur, who is also a citizen of France, the UAE, and Saint Kitts and Nevis, was taken into custody at Paris-Le Bourget Airport on Saturday andis set to appear in court on Sunday evening, according to French media. The country’s authorities had reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Durov, arguing that insufficient moderation allows for Telegram to be widely used by criminals.

On Sunday, Durov’s supporters gathered near the French embassy and covered the shrubs around it with paper airplanes. Deputy Speaker of theRussian State Duma Vladislav Davankov was among those who participated in the rally.

The top state official had previously demanded the immediate release of the social media platform’s founder, arguingthat his “arrest could be politically motivated and used to gain access to the personal information of Telegram users.”

Durov’s detention has triggered a wave of indignation in Russia and abroad. US tech billionaireElon Muskbecame one of the first globally known figures to react;he has launched the hashtag #FreePavel, and suggested that rising international pressure on freedom of speech could worsen.

The head of Russia’s Safe Internet League,Ekaterina Mizulina, has suggested that the French authorities hadn’t acted independentlyin their decision to detain Telegram’s CEO,calling the move “a continuation of the US sanctions policy.”

US investor David Sacks went further, insisting that Washington has violated its own constitutional freedoms by forcing its NATO ally France to arrest Durov.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier that Moscow has sent an official letter to Parisdemanding consular access to Telegram’s founder.

Moscow’s embassy in Paris has insisted that French authorities explain the reasons for Durov’s arrest, and relayed that it is in contact with Durov’s lawyer.

Durov was born in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) in 1984. He left Russia in the mid-2010s and has since mainly lived in the UAE. In 2021, he was granted French citizenship. Last month, Durov wrote on his Telegram channel that the messaging platform had reached 950 million active monthly users.

https://www.rt.com/news/603048-durov-moscow-france-embassy-planes/

24 Aug, 2024 11:20

Vast majority of Russians distrust each other – poll

A low level of interpersonal confidence could be determined by social and economic factors, established research center suggests

Nearly 73% of Russians agreed it is necessary to be cautious in interactions with fellow citizens, the latest survey conducted by the long-established Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) has found.

Only about a quarter of respondents (24%) are ready to trust most people, as the remaining 3% are undecided, the poll indicated.

People in Russia, however, seem no less confident in each other than they were six years ago, the researchers noted; in 2018, a similar poll suggested that 74% of respondents demonstrated caution when engaging with others.

Trust in others directly depends on financial stability; the latest poll indicates that confidence was lowest among people with lower incomes. Respondents who assess their family’s financial situation as “very good” and “good” demonstrated a tendency to trust people more often (30%) than those who think that their finances are “bad” or “very bad” (15%).

Men tend to exhibit less trusting behavior toward others than women in social exchanges. Some 40% of male respondents said that they expect other people to deceive them when the occasion arises, while only 30% of females shared their trepidation. Meanwhile, 51% of women and 45% of men expect honest behavior from other people in any situation; 21% and 15%, respectively, were undecided.

The researchers added that responses were different in various age groups, with younger people being more anxious about others’ reliability: 45% of those aged 18–24 fear other people may to let them down at some point, while the share of older age cohorts giving the same answer ranged from 28% to 35%.

Commenting on the results of the latest poll, Valery Fedorov, the head of VCIOM, stated that the level of interpersonal trust between Russians hit its nadir during the 1990s, when the nation underwent a severe crisis and shortages of basic goods due to the rapid transition from a state-planned to a market-based economy.

The official added that the tendency towards the normalization of public life had boosted trust, but was interrupted due to new “traumas” in society, including an extension of the retirement age in 2018, the coronavirus pandemic, and the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict, among other things.

“The younger generation, on which sociologists rest their hopes when it comes to the potential waning of distrustful trends, turned out to be victims of new, difficult times,” Fedorov said.

https://www.rt.com/russia/603009-russians-distrust-each-other-poll/

I wonder if most of this is the intense Russiaphobia projected by the West has had an effect on the country. I would equate it to the hate American's projected by the oligarchy of the left, treating us like we are enemies of America. The propaganda employed by the left is tiresome..