the battle lines are getting more obvious. the question then becomes is this a one sided 'war' or not, and how would we know when and if; 

The West is looking to shut down criticism of its foreign policy in Ukraine and Gaza, according to one former CIA analyst.

Opposition to the Telegram encrypted messaging platform is driven by the West’s desire to surveil online activity and suppress criticism of its foreign policy, according to ex-CIA analyst Larry Johnson.

The analyst made the claim during an interview with Sputnik after news broke that Telegram founder Pavel Durov had been arrested by French authorities after his private jet landed at an airport outside Paris.

“I think the charges are all implausible, false,” said the co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. “They’re charging him reportedly with terrorism. And with fraud. So this clearly smacks of a trumped up political case.”

“They’re going to charge him with terrorism because he has refused to censor certain groups, people that support Hamas are allowed to communicate freely on Telegram. Telegram is one of the few channels that actually allows information that’s critical of Western policy to go on. I think that’s really at the root of this.”

Durov reportedly faces a number of charges relating to Telegram’s lack of moderation, which authorities claim implicates him in the sharing of content related to terrorism, drug trafficking, fraud, and money laundering........more.......