Russian Federation starts blocking Telegram messenger

Following weeks after its initial coin offering (ICO) presale surged close to $2 million in tow private funding rounds, Telegram messaging app has been officially banned by a Russian court. Now, following a legal rollercoaster, the Russian state telecommunications regulator admitted, via Reuters, it had sent requests to both Google and Apple to remove Telegram from their respective app stores.

The decision to block the messaging app followed a months-long standoff between Telegram and the FSB, which demanded the encryption keys so it could access users’ messages. He also termed the court’s ban as anti-constitutional and added that the ban in no way going to improve the security of Russia rather than interfering the business of Telegram and ultimately the freedom of communication among Russian citizens.

Now, the French government is apparently taking precautions as it announces that it is building its own end-to-end encrypted messenger service to quash fears of data breaches and surveillance.

Telegram says the way the app is made means the service itself does not have access to the encryption keys.

Roskomnadzor’s website crashed after the agency opened a hotline about Telegram.

Telegram has been embroiled in a legal dispute with Russia’s telecoms regulatory body for years.

Since then, most of his lawmakers have joined the app and the president himself can often be seen online on Telegram, sometimes in the early hours of the morning. Authorities want unlimited access to the app so they can snoop on messages as part of what they claim are anti-terrorism and crime measures.

By doing so, Telegram was able to skirt the initial ban and provide service to Russian users over the weekend.

On 13 April 2018, the Taganskyi District Court of Moscow upheld Roscomnadzor’s claim to block access to Telegram. Telegram, which was developed by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, has refused to share data, citing privacy concerns.

Reuters reported there are 20 officials now using whatever is meant to replace Telegram, and added that the government is concerned that none of the major encrypted apps are based in France.

Now, Telegram is officially banned in Russian Federation, and it looks like the government is doing what it can to enforce that ban.