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Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov will not attend the Oslo Freedom Forum in Oslo, Norway, after French courts denied his plea to travel to the Scandinavian country.

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF), a charity that organizes the Oslo Freedom Forum and promotes individual liberty and universal human rights, has announced that Durov will continue to give his keynote talk via a digital webcast.

HRF founder and CEO Thor Halvorssen said, “It is regrettable that French courts would prevent Mr. Durov from taking part in an event where his voice is sorely needed.” Durov remains an outspoken supporter of individual liberty and free expression.

Executives in the IT and cryptocurrency industry are keenly watching Pavel Durov’s case and its impact on personal freedom in France. Recently, Pavel Durov claimed that French intelligence services asked him to filter conservative political content on Telegram associated with the Romanian presidential race.

He categorically rejected the request.. It’s not possible to ‘protect democracy’ by destroying it. On May 18, Durov posted on Telegram, “You can’t ‘fight election interference’ by interfering with elections.”

Durov said Telegram will not censor political information on the app and will leave the markets before limiting free expression on the messaging platform. According to the co-founder of Telegram, it is a violation of human rights to submit to such oppressive political censorship.