Russia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the Telegram messenger app must provide the country’s security services with encryption keys to read users’ messaging data.
Media watchdog Roskomnadzor instructed Telegram to “provide the FSB with the necessary information to decode electronic messages received, transmitted, or being sent” within 15 days, it said on its website. Telegram had appealed against an earlier ruling that it must share this information, but this appeal was rejected on Tuesday. If it does not provide the keys it could be blocked in Russia.
The ruling is the latest move in a dispute between Telegram and the Russian authorities as Moscow pushes to increase surveillance of Internet activities.
