Tag Archive for: Telegram

In effort to shut down Telegram, Russia blocks Amazon, Google network addresses

Enlarge / “Free” as in “censored.” (credit: Carl Court / Getty Images)

Early today, Roskomnadzor—Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media—moved to enforce a new Russian federal law blocking the use of Telegram, the encrypted chat and social networking application that has become the favored tool of Russia’s political opposition and journalists. The censorship began with Roskomnadzor instructing Internet service providers to block requests to Internet Protocol addresses of Telegram’s servers.

But as users flocked to virtual private networks and proxy services to reach Telegram from their mobile devices and computers—or resorted to building their own—government censors added large swaths of IP addresses to the block list. And according to multiple sources within Russia, ISPs there are now blocking large chunks of IP addresses associated with cloud services from Amazon and Google.

Alexander Zharov, the chief of Roskomnadzor, confirmed that Amazon’s addresses were being blocked “due to the fact that the Telegram messenger started using them to bypass the lock in Russia,” RT reported.

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica

“Privacy is not for sale,” Telegram founder says after being banned in Russia

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A Russian court has paved the way for the government to block the Telegram messaging app over its creators’ failure to provide authorities with access to users’ encrypted messages, it was widely reported on Friday.

Russia’s state communications watchdog sought the ban last Friday in a lawsuit that asked the court for the authority to block the app’s use in Russian territories. The watchdog said Russian authorities needed the ability to decrypt messages sent by potential terrorists and that Telegram had missed an April 4 deadline to turn over keys that would make that possible. At today’s hearing, which was scheduled only 24 hours earlier, the court granted the request after just 18 minutes of deliberation, The New York Times reported. Telegram lawyers skipped the hearing in protest.

The ruling came a month after telegram lost a lawsuit it filed against Russia’s secretive security agency, the FSB, which has said Telegram is the messenger of choice for “international terrorist organizations in Russia.” In 2016, the Kremlin supported a sweeping anti-terrorism law that required authorities to be given backdoor access to encrypted applications. Telegram, which says it has 200 million users, is widely used by lawyers, reporters, government officials, and others. The FSB says telegram was also used by a suicide bomber who last year killed 15 people on a subway in St. Petersburg.

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica

Iran reportedly to block Telegram due to ‘national security’ concerns

  1. Iran reportedly to block Telegram due to ‘national security’ concerns  Android Police
  2. Iran To Shut Down Telegram For ‘Security Reasons’  TOLOnews
  3. Full coverage

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Telegram Ordered to Hand Over Encryption Keys to Russian Authorities

Popular secure messaging service Telegram loses battle with Russian courts and now must hand over encryption keys or face being blocked from the country.
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