Committee to Protect Journalists Joins Call for Russia to Revoke Order Banning Telegram

 

By Gulnoza Said

A coalition of 26 international human rights, media and internet freedom organizations, including CPJ, today called on Russian authorities to revoke a court order that blocks access to the Telegram messaging app.

A Moscow court on April 13, granted a request filed by Roskomnadzor, Russia's communications regulator, to block access to Telegram on the grounds that the company had not complied with a 2017 order to provide decryption keys to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). In the days following the court ruling nearly 20 million Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, including for Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, were ordered to be blocked as Roskomnadzor attempted to restrict access to Telegram, the statement said.

Thousands of people protested in Moscow today in response to the ban and other restrictions on internet freedom, media reported.

As space for independent media shrinks in Russia, Telegram has become a popular way for outlets to communicate with sources and distribute news, and the app is used as a publishing platform for many media outlets and journalists.

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Source: cpj.org