Russian Court Bans Messaging App Telegram, World Views it as Moscow's Attempt at Censorship on Freedom of Expression
"The court ruled to satisfy the demand of Roskomnadzor," Judge Yulia Smolina said. The judge further observed that the court's verdict ought to be implemented instantly.
Moscow, April 14: A court in Moscow has made it possible for Russia to ban Telegram, a messaging app, for its "failure" in providing the access to users'messages to the security authorities in Russia. "The court ruled to satisfy the demand of Roskomnadzor," Judge Yulia Smolina said. The access to Telegram will be denied and there won't be technical conditions for sending messages, reported the Russian news agency TASS. The judge further observed that the court's verdict ought to be implemented instantly.
Roskomnadzor, the Russian communications and technology watchdog, had demanded that the app be blocked. It took the court all of 18 minutes to grant the request, after scheduling the hearing just one day before, according to the reports. The trial took place without Telegram's defense team. The authorities, including Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), argued that terrorist plot attacks on the app that boasts 200 million users.
According to the New York Times, there was no immediate comment from the founder of Telegram Pavel Durov, who also came up with the Russian social network Vkontakte and had fled the country in 2014, after he lost control of Vkontakte. President Vladimir Putin's press office reportedly uses the Telegram as well. "There is a certain legislation that demands certain data to be passed to certain services of the Russian Federation," Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitri S. Peskov, said, adding that his office would resort to an alternative app the moment Telegram ceased working.
The Guardain newspaper compared the ban to "Chinese-style" internet censorship and also said that there is no clarity as of now on how Russia would block the app technically. Telegram is one of the popular apps in the world with over 200 million users in the world. The report also mentions that Russia's ban on the app has been criticised by Amnesty International as an attack on freedom of expression. (With Agency Inputs)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 14, 2018 11:49 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).