SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Sunday came out in support of Telegram Founder Pavel Durov, saying Mark Zuckerberg should instead be arrested for "massive child exploitation" problem on his Meta-owned Instagram.
The billionaire reacted after Russian-born Pavel Durov, founder and owner of the popular encrypted messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France over numerous charges related to his platform, and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Also read: Telegram founder Pavel Durov faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted
Musk said that Meta Founder March Zuckerberg has “already caved into censorship pressure”.
“Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck, as he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data,” the X owner posted.
He further said that “It’s 2030 in Europe and you’re being executed for liking a meme”.
Because he already caved into censorship pressure.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 25, 2024
Instagram has a massive child exploitation problem, but no arrest for Zuck, as he censors free speech and gives governments backdoor access to user data. https://t.co/RTTGIaD0gA https://t.co/iPb5NIxIJN
“It is vital to the support of free speech that you forward X posts to people you know, especially in censorship-heavy countries,” the tech billionaire mentioned.
In February this year, Zuckerberg apologised to the families of victims of online child sex abuse during a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill.
The billionaire entrepreneur told parents that "I’m sorry for everything you have all been through. No one should go through the things that your families have suffered”.
“And this is why we invest so much and we are going to continue doing industry-wide efforts to make sure no one has to go through the things your families have had to suffer,” he added.
In May this year, Musk said that Zuckerberg-run Meta is "super greedy" at taking credit for advertisers who run campaigns on its platform.
The X owner replied that "we are terrible at claiming credit, and Meta is super greedy at claiming credit.”
The rivalry between Musk and Zuckerberg is well known. They were apparently set for a “cage fight’ some time back -- dubbed as the fight of the century. However, the much-anticipated showdown between the duo was cancelled.