EncryptionRussia asks Apple to help it enforce ban on Telegram

Russia’s communications regulator says it has asked U.S. technology giant Apple to help it block the popular messaging service Telegram in Russia.

Roskomnadzor’s press service on 28 May said the regulator sent a letter to Apple asking it to block push notifications for Telegram users in Russia, ensuring that Apple phone and tablet users do not receive alerts about new messages and rendering the application less useful.

The regulator, which started enforcing a court ban on Telegram on 16 April after the company refused to give Russia’s Federal Security Service access to private conversations, also asked Apple to no longer make the free Telegram app available for download in the country.

Also on 28 May, Russian state news agency TASS reported that Roskomnadzor was working with U.S. technology giant Google to implement the ban against Telegram.

Roskomnadzor in its letter to Apple said the company should “inform us as soon as possible about your company’s further actions to resolve the problematic issue” with Telegram, or face “possible action by the agency.”

Russian news agency Interfax quoted Roskomnadzor director Aleksandr Zharov as saying that Apple had one month to reply to the regulator’s request. He declined to say what action Roskomnadzor might take if Apple refused to comply, but told Interfax that the company was legally bound by the court ban on Telegram.

RFE/RL’s requests for comment were not immediately answered by Apple.

A Moscow court last month banned Telegram following a long-running battle with the authorities over access to its securely encrypted communications. The ban has provoked repeated protests in Russia by thousands who use and support the popular messaging service.

The service was created by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, who has vowed to reject any attempt by the country’s security services to gain forced access to messages.

Telegram lets people exchange messages, stickers, photos, and videos in groups of up to 5,000 people. It has attracted more than 200 million users since its launch by Durov and his brother Nikolai in 2013.

While Roskomnadzor moved to block Telegram after the court ruling, it has acknowledged only limited success at disrupting and reducing Telegram’s operations by between 15 percent to 30 percent.

Zharov and other Russian officials have claimed the ban against Telegram is justified because the service has been used in the planning of terror attacks around the world.

This article is published courtesy of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty