Russia Blocks Messaging App for Not Allowing ‘Snooping’ on User Messages

The Russian judiciary ordered on Friday the blocking of the mobile messaging app Telegram in Russia, expecting it to grant special services access to read the messages of the app’s users.

The app, used by around 200 million people and co-founded by individuals of Russian origin, is known for offering high confidentiality and has resisted government pressures for months, amid increased pressure on the Russian internet.

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At a court in Moscow, Judge Yulia Smolina ordered the blocking of the app until it fulfills the “obligation to provide security services with the information necessary to decode written, sent, received” electronic messages of its users.

The regulatory agency Roskomnadzor, which approached the judiciary, warned on Thursday that the decision, once made, would be applied “immediately”. The hearing took place in the absence of Telegram representatives, who explained that they did not wish to participate in the “farce”.

The app’s co-founder Pavel Durov, who left Russia in 2004, remained resolute in refusing to comply with the authorities’ demands, even at the cost of a ban.

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“Confidentiality is not for sale, and human rights should not be compromised out of fear or greed.”

The blocking of Telegram “is not an end in itself,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “there are legal provisions that require the provision of a certain number of data, but unfortunately, a consensus has not been reached.”