The murder of conservative American influencer Charlie Kirk is an attack on freedom of speech, Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov has said, warning that other liberties could soon be at risk as well.
Kirk “fought for open debate, and enemies of truth hated him for it,” Durov wrote in a Telegram post, paying tribute to the activist, who was shot on Wednesday while addressing thousands of students at a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University.
US officials have described the killing as a targeted political assassination, while Durov called it a direct “assault on free speech.”
“Once free speech is lost, every other freedom soon follows. We must continue Charlie’s mission to defend it,” he added.
The Russian billionaire has long cast Telegram as a bulwark for free speech and privacy, often in contrast to what he calls authoritarian attempts at censorship. He has clashed with French authorities and other Western governments, facing fines in Germany for the platform’s failure to remove “illegal” content, as well as criticism in the US over allegedly enabling extremist groups.
In the wake of Kirk’s murder, conservative US politicians and public figures have eulogized him as a patriot and champion of civil dialogue. Vice President JD Vance said his interactive events with young audiences provided “one of the few places with open and honest dialogue between left and right.” President Donald Trump announced that Kirk would be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Trump vowed to pursue not only Kirk’s killer but also what he called the “radical left” networks that fuel political violence, promising a probe into billionaire investor George Soros over his alleged role in funding mass “riots” in the US. Tech mogul Elon Musk likewise denounced the radical left as a “party of murder.”
On Friday, US authorities confirmed that a Utah resident identified as Tyler Robinson, 22, had been arrested on suspicion of killing Kirk. Both Trump and Utah Governor Spencer Cox said the suspect should face the death penalty if convicted.
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