Telegram banned in Russia following court ruling
Russian authorities have been threatening to ban Telegram since 2017 due to its developers’ repeated refusal to give them access to users’ data. Well, they can soon make good on that threat now that a Moscow court has officially issued a ban on the secure messaging application. It all started when KGB successor Federal Security Service (FSB) demanded access to Telegram’s decryption keys last year. FSB wants those keys so it can read user messages, apparently as part of its anti-terror measures.
It’s no secret that Telegram has a terrorist problem due to the emphasis it places on user privacy — in fact, the company has been blocking ISIS channels for years, though new ones continue to pop up. But it’s also because of how much Telegram values security and privacy that its founder, Pavel Durov, wouldn’t budge no matter hard the agency pushed.
While his company eventually agreed to register with the Russian government as an information distributor that officially operates within the country, Durov refuses to comply with any request that can compromise user data. As a result, Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor asked the court to ban the app.
According to Russian news agency Tass, the ban will take effect immediately. However, Financial Times says the ban will likely come into effect after Telegram has exhausted all its appeals next month, and Roskomnadzor can only order internet providers to block Russian users’ access to the application if the company continues to lose in court.
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