Elon Musk, Pavel Durov and the “little judges”

DThese strong minds in the world of digital platforms, two powerful and extremely wealthy bosses of global stature, Elon Musk and Pavel Durov, have just bowed to regulators of democratic states following separate but revealing legal proceedings. a new dynamic.

In Brazil, the Supreme Court lifted, on Wednesday October 9, the suspension of the activities of the social network fined 5 million euros and blocked accounts that the government accused of promoting disinformation. Elon Musk therefore gave in, at the end of a conflict lasting several months which led him to close his offices in Brazil in reaction to the decision of a judge to ban several accounts accused of disinformation, since the management of to do it herself. The Supreme Court then decided to block the entire social network in Brazil.

In France, it is Telegram, one of the largest messaging services in the world, which has changed its position and now agrees to cooperate with the judicial authorities, after the spectacular arrest of its founder and CEO, the Russian Pavel Durov (who also has French nationality), on August 24. Indicted for twelve offenses linked to the virtual absence of cooperation of Telegram with the justice system in cases of fraud or dissemination of child pornography images, Pavel Durov was placed under judicial supervision with a ban on leaving French territory, after having paid a deposit of 5 million euros.

Times-face

Telegram is now responding to legal requests and agrees to reveal to the courts the IP addresses and telephone numbers of users who break the law, Mr. Durov confirmed on September 23. The application has also implemented extensive filtering of its internal search engine, which makes it possible to block keywords leading to channels for the sale of weapons, drugs or illegal services, which were previously completely accessible. Belgian justice has also observed better cooperation from Telegram in recent weeks.

These about-faces show that, far from being a lawless zone, the Internet can comply with the rules as long as we want to give ourselves the means to enforce them, even if it means using forceful tactics as did most legally in the world the French and Brazilian judges. It is not essential to wait for major legislation in Brussels or Washington: the classic judicial arsenal of States can also be usefully put to use.

This sequence also confirms that, behind their libertarian positions in favor of absolute freedom of expression, these global leaders of digital platforms are above all business leaders concerned about their economic interests. They also have no qualms about collaborating with regulators from authoritarian countries. The choice of Dubai as Telegram’s headquarters is indicative of the company’s priorities in this regard.

Courted by heads of state and long protected because of their power of investment and innovation, these digital “strong men”, openly critical of the European regulatory approach, are finally led to respect the law by “ little judges.” This is perhaps the start of a healthy and necessary rebalancing.