Blocking Telegram in Russia

A map of countries in which Telegram is completely blocked or partially
  Completely blocked
  Blocked partially (some ISPs or audio traffic)

Blocking Telegram in Russia is the process of restricting access to Telegram messenger on the territory of the Russian Federation. The technical process of this restriction began on April 16, 2018.[1] The blocking led to interruptions in the operation of many third-party services, but practically did not affect the availability of Telegram in Russia.

The essence of the conflict

According to the position of the Russian courts on the basis of the "Yarovaya law", Telegram is required to store encryption keys from all user correspondence and provide them at the request of the Federal Security Service of Russia.[2][3] Telegram management insists that this requirement is technically impracticable (keys are stored on users' devices and do not reach the messenger's servers), and also contradicts the Constitution of Russia.

In September 2017, the FSB filed a lawsuit on the non-fulfillment of the Yarovaya law by the messenger. In October 2017, a judgment was delivered in favor of the FSB, imposing a fine on Telegram in the amount of 800 thousand rubles. The reason was the lack of telegram keys from Correspondence 6 persons accused of terrorism. According to the statement founder of Telegram, Pavel Durov, even if the request of the FSB was limited to help in capturing six terrorists, Telegram could hardly help the special services, because the mobile numbers interesting to the FSB either never had accounts in Telegram, or their accounts were deleted due to inactivity. At the same time, the requirements of the FSB mean the creation of a technology that would enable the special services to access the correspondence of any users.[4][5]

According to Pavel Durov believe, the FSB's requirements are not feasible:

In addition to the fact that the requirements of the FSB are not technically feasible, they contradict Article 23 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation : "Everyone has the right to privacy of correspondence, telephone conversations, postal, telegraphic and other communications".[6]

If the FSB had confined itself to requesting information about several terrorists, its demand would fit in with the Constitution. However, we are talking about the transfer of universal encryption keys for the purpose of subsequent uncontrolled access to the correspondence of an unlimited circle of persons.[7][8]

Protest actions

On April 22, 2018 in different cities of Russia was "an action in support of free Internet", timed to the seventh day of the blockade of Telegram. Residents of Russia launched paper airplanes (the symbol of Telegram). Proposals to hold this action were sent by Telegram on the morning of April 22. Later Pavel Durov added a request to remove the aircraft in an hour's time.[9]

On April 30, 2018, in the center of Moscow, an action was held in support of the blocked Telegram in Russia, which collected (when counting the passed through the established framework) more than 12,000 people.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Роскомнадзор начал процедуру блокировки Telegram - Экономика и бизнес". ТАСС (in Russian). Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  2. ↑ A letter from the FSB about an administrative offense (in Russian)
  3. ↑ Decree of the Meshchansky court on administrative violation (in Russian)
  4. ↑ "Дуров заявил, что компромисс между Telegram и ФСБ был изначально невозможен". NEWSru.com (in Russian). May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Пользователи Telegram подали в суд коллективный иск к ФСБ - Общество". ТАСС (in Russian). Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  6. ↑ ntv.ru (October 16, 2017). "Дуров назвал штраф для Telegram нарушением Конституции РФ". НТВ (in Russian). Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Durov's Channel". Telegram. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  8. ↑ telegram channel of Pavel Durov
  9. ↑ "Россияне запустили бумажные самолетики в поддержку свободного интернета. И пообещали убрать за собой". Meduza (in Kyrgyz). April 22, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Число участников митинга в защиту Telegram достигло 12 тысяч человек. Дуров назвал акцию беспрецедентной". republic.ru (in Russian). Retrieved May 19, 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.