Elon Musk says he may be more careful about where he travels after Telegram CEO shock arrest

Elon Musk has suggested he may have to be more careful about where he travels to. 

Elon Musk has suggested he may have to be more careful about where he travels after Telegram’s CEO was arrested in France.

The X owner, facing scrutiny around the world over the spread of misinformation on the social-media platform he bought for $44 billion in 2022, said on X that he might “limit movements” to nations where free speech is “constitutionally protected.”

The billionaire was responding to a post asking him to consider the implications of where he travels.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested last week at an airport near Paris and faces charges of crimes related to illegal activity on his platform.

Musk has been an outspoken defender of Durov since his arrest and criticized his detention as a violation of free speech, warning that it heralded “dangerous times.”

France has laws protecting freedom of expression, incorporated into the country’s constitution.

In a post on X on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron attacked what he called “false information” about Durov’s arrest. He said that Durov’s arrest was “in no way a political decision” and that France was “deeply committed to freedom of expression.”

Musk and Durov have a lot in common. Both run platforms criticized over their lack of content moderation. Critics say Telegram’s tolerant approach has allowed criminal activity to flourish.

Musk has also faced criticism for the spread of false information on X, formerly Twitter.

In August, far-right riots broke out across the UK following fatal stabbings at a children’s dance class. The riots were spurred in part by false reports, which spread on X, that the attacker in the stabbings had entered the country illegally.

Musk himself was accused of adding fuel to the fire with his posts on the violence, including one post in which he claimed “civil war was inevitable” below a video of far-right disorder in the UK.

One former Twitter executive even suggested that Musk should face arrest if he were found to have stirred up unrest.

The Tesla CEO is also embroiled in a legal battle in Brazil, where a Supreme Court judge has threatened to suspend X in the country after the social-media platform refused to block several accounts accused of spreading misinformation.

Musk did not respond to a request for comment from B-17, sent outside normal working hours.