Russian Federation to square Telegram application
- by Shelly Sherman
- in People
- — Apr 17, 2018
The ban, which began Monday, comes after Telegram refused to hand over encryption keys that would give the Kremlin access to private messages on its platform. "This information was sent to providers on Monday", Russia's communications watchdog said in a statement.
The Virgin Islands-registered company said last month its total audience globally surpassed 200 million users, driven by attention for the world's largest initial coin offering.
Tagansky court judge Yuliya Smolina ruled against Telegram on Friday, siding with communications regulator Roskomnadzor's request for the authorization to block access to the app on the grounds that the company had refused to comply with local laws.
As a result, a Russian court has now backed the telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor in issuing the order on Friday to block the app in the country with immediate effect.
Roskomnadzor has launched the blocking procedure for Telegram in Russian Federation.
Regardless of the ban, Durov announced on Tass (Translated from Russian) that Telegram would still be able to notify its Russian users about the situation.
Russian Federation says 'immediate priority is to avert the danger of war'
Trump had repeatedly said he would not telegraph military moves against foes such as North Korea and Islamic State. He said he would also strive to prevent an escalation of conflict across the Middle East.
Telecommunications providers have been instructed to block Telegram in Russian Federation after a court last week sided with authorities who demanded that the app be kept of the country until it hands over the keys to its data encryption.
"We consider the ban decision anti-constitutional and will continue to defend the right to secret correspondence for Russians".
Telegram's founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, was a pioneer of social media in Russian Federation but left the country in 2014.
For example, it has been used in the past to set up conference calls between officials and reporters. A Russian court has ordered the blocking of a popular messaging app following a demand by authorities that it share encryption data with them.
The French government's encrypted app has been developed on the basis of free-to-use code found on the Internet and could be eventually made available to all citizens, the spokeswoman said.
