Twitter on Fire as Communication Watchdog Starts Blocking Telegram in Russia

Some Russian users are reporting that Telegram is no longer available for them after the Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor announced on Monday that it had sent notification to Telecom operators that Telegram access was being restricted. 

TWEET: Telegram is being blocked now

TWEET: It seems that the ban on Telegram is really going to move forward

 

"Roskomnadzor has received the ruling of the Tagansky District Court to restrict access to the Internet resources of the Telegram Messenger Limited Liability Partnership information dissemination organizer on Russian territory. In connection with this, information about these Internet resources was sent to communications operators on Monday, April 16 to restrict access," Roskomnadzor said.

The blocking must be carried out within 24 hours. Roskomnadzor is also set to send requests to the AppStore and Google Play to delete the applications.

The announcement comes days after a Moscow district court authorized Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor to immediately block Telegram in Russia, without waiting for an appeal to be considered. According to the court, Telegram will remain blocked in the country until it provides encryption keys to Russian authorities.

READ MORE: How Encrypted Messengers Are Viewed Around the Globe

For his part, the messenger's CEO Pavel Durov has stated that Telegram would use built-in methods to bypass blocking, which do not require user action.
He also said that regardless of blocking, Telegram will retain the ability to send notices to all Russian users, informing them about the development of the situation.

The court's decision followed the legal action against Telegram that had been requested by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which had previously asked Telegram Durov to provide the agency with encryption keys in an effort to deter terror attacks in Russia since the messenger is believed to be widely used by terrorists.

The company was given 15 days until early April to comply but ultimately it refused to provide the FSB with the encryption keys.

Twitterians in the Russian segment of the internet rushed to comment on the ban.

TWEET: Can we ban karaoke instead of Telegram?

TWEET: I've learned that Telegram was banned in Russia from Telegram

TWEET: If there's something that should not be banned in Russia, it's Telegram. In my humble opinion

TWEET: As judged by the screams and moans, Telegram is the only messenger on planet Earth… I'm from a village, not wide awake