Russia threatens to block Telegram messenger, Google and Facebook
The Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, Nikolay Nikiforov, stated that Telegram and other Internet services that refuse to comply with Russian legislation will not work in Russia, as reported by RIA Novosti.
"We have no prejudiced attitude to either Russian or foreign Internet services. As it is written in the law, so it will be, without options. Services that don’t comply with Russian laws in Russia, won’t work in Russia," said the Minister in response to whether Telegram can be blocked because of its refusal to cooperate with authorities.
The minister added that this applies to other services as well.
"I don’t understand the media hype concerning Telegram. I would also worry about other foreign services as WhatsApp, Viber, Google, and Facebook. They all fall under this law," the Minister said.
On Wednesday, Telegram founder, Pavel Durov, said that the FSB had drafted a statement indicating the company violated the Yarovaya Law, which could lead to litigation.
He attached two documents to the post, dated August 31st and September 14th. The first is a notification that a violation would be drawn up against the company. The second document is a copy of the already written violation "upon failure to fulfill the obligation to provide information necessary for received, transmitted, delivered, and (or) processed electronic messages."