Russian Court Orders Telegram Messenger App Blocked

A Russian court order has ordered that the Telegram Messenger app be blocked in the country. The ruling comes a week after state communication watchdog, Roskomnadzor, filed a lawsuit to block access to the app for not providing security services access to user's secret messages.

Russia’s FSB Federal Security service said it needs access to user's messages to guard against terrorist attacks, reports Reuters.

“The court decided to meet the requirements of Roskomnadzor, impose restrictions on access to Telegram messenger and stop providing technical conditions for the exchange of messages,” TASS news agency quoted judge Yulia Smolina as saying.


Telegram founder and CEO, Pavel Durov, said it will try to circumvent the ban but could not guarantee 100% access without use of a VPN. The company's lawyer, Pavel Chikov, said, "They have demonstrated again and again that the court system is devoted to serving the interests of the authorities. They no longer even care about basic external appearances."

You can download Telegram Messenger from the App Store for free.

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