Russia's telecommunication regulator urges Apple to help block Telegram
Russian authorities have asked Apple to help the country’s telecommunication regulator Roskomnadzor block the popular messaging application Telegram.
Roskomnadzor said Monday it had requested that Apple make changes to its services so that two main features of Telegram, namely its push notifications and downloads, would not be accessible in Russia.
“In order to avoid possible action by Roskomnadzor for violations of the functioning of the above-mentioned Apple Inc. service, we ask you to inform us as soon as possible about your company's further actions to resolve the problematic issue,” said Roskomnadzor.
A court in Moscow banned Telegram last month after authorities failed to persuade the app owners to give the security services access to private conversations. Roskomnadzor has acknowledged that it has only managed to disrupt Telegram’s operations by 15 to 30 percent following the block of the general functioning of the app.
Roskomnadzor's director Alexander Zharov said Monday that Apple had one month to reply to Russia’s request. He would not elaborate on what actions Russia could take against Apple if it did not comply with the request.
Created by Russian programmer Pavel Durov, Telegram has attracted more than 200 million users worldwide since its launch in 2013. The app, known for its securely encrypted communications, lets people exchange messages, stickers, photos and videos in groups of up to 5,000 people.
Durov has consistently refused to give security services backdoor access to the app. However, authorities in several countries where Telegram is popular insist it has been used in planning terror attacks and that without having access to private conversations they would not be able to track terrorists.
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