George Washington University (GWU) law professor Jonathan Turley slammed "global censors" Monday morning on "Fox and Friends" following the arrest of Telegram founder Pavel Durov.

French authorities arrested Durov, the billionaire creator and messaging app CEO, on Saturday, the Russian Embassy in Paris confirmed, according to Bloomberg. Turley told Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt that he still opposes Durov's arrest even though authorities allege Telegram was employed for criminal behavior.

Before introducing Turley, Earhardt noted that Durov was "due in court in the coming days." She also pointed out the concerns many in the European Union have for potential chilling of free speech.

"So, the authorities say the app was being used for organized crime, drug trafficking, fraud, cyber bullying and promotion of terrorism. Despite all of that, you're still against his arrest. Why?" Earhardt asked.

"I am. People need to realize what's really going on here. We haven't seen anything akin to a charging sheet, but it appears that he's being arrested under these European laws that are designed to force social media companies to engage in censorship," Turley said.

The GWU law professor told Earhardt that the "most infamous" European law against free speech is the Digital Services Act (DSA), which he called "one of the greatest threats to free speech that we have today around the world."

Turley related the issue to when European Commissioner for International Markets Thierry Brenton warned Elon Musk that his social media platform X must comply with the EU's digital free speech and disinformation laws in a letter ahead of Musk's interview with former President Donald Trump on Aug. 12.

"And this is a global effort to control speech, and so — it's hard to be sympathetic with some Russian billionaire, right? That's not exactly somebody that you rally to the park to defend. But he's being charged with misconduct of others using his site," Turley said of Durov's arrest. "It's like arresting AT&T's CEO because the mob used a telephone to do its business."