Russia's censor wants to block Telegram ‘immediately.’ It could happen as soon as Friday.
Russia’s federal censor isn’t angling for a long trial in its lawsuit against the instant messenger Telegram. In a preliminary case hearing on Thursday, Roskomnadzor asked Moscow’s Tagansky District Court to block Telegram “immediately.” The case itself starts on Friday, April 13. Telegram’s representatives didn’t attend the preliminary hearing.
If and when the court sides with the government, Russian law technically gives Telegram the chance to challenge the ruling in an appellate court. According to this procedure, the verdict wouldn’t take effect until after that court upholds the initial decision. Roskomnadzor would then issue a final warning. If Telegram ignores it, Russian ISPs would be ordered to block access to Telegram, and Google and Apple could also be told to remove Telegram from their app stores in Russia.
But Roskomnadzor has asked the Tagansky District Court to skip these last steps and sanction the blocking of Telegram right away.
What does the government want?
The Federal Security Service has ordered Telegram to surrender the encryption keys for all user correspondence. Telegram insists that this is technically impossible because its software architecture doesn’t store these keys centrally (the keys are created and stored on users’ own devices). Russian lawmakers say Telegram must redesign its software, if it’s not currently capable of complying with the country’s new “anti-terrorism” laws.
The journalists Oleg Kashin and Alexander Plushev have filed a lawsuitagainst the Russian government in the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the FSB’s demands violate their rights to privacy and free expression guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights.
According to the Internet rights group “Roskomsvoboda,” another 40 Telegram users will soon file similar appeals with the ECHR. Telegram users have already tried to challenge the FSB’s demands in Russian court, but judges refused to hear the cases.
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