Telegram isn't getting banned in Russia without a fight

12:38 pm, October 26, 2017

The instant messenger Telegram has formally challenged a fine imposed for refusing to obey orders from the Russian Federal Security Service to surrender the encryption keys for user correspondence.

According to Pavel Chikov, the director of the “Agora” human rights group, which is representing Telegram, the Moscow district court that issued the 800,000-ruble ($14,000) fine didn’t have the right to hear a misdemeanor case against a foreign legal entity.

Telegram was fined on October 16 for refusing orders from Russia’s Federal Security Service. After the ruling takes effect, Roskomnadzor (Russia’s federal media censor) will have legal grounds to block Telegram in Russia.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has repeatedly insisted that he will never surrender his service’s encryption keys to the Russian government.

For more on Telegram's fight to survive in Russia

Here's how much time Telegram has before the Russian government could block it