On April 13, a court in Moscow satisfied the appeal of Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor and ruled to block the Russian messenger Telegram, after the latter had failed to provide the authorities with its encryption keys, in their battle against terrorism.
We have compiled a list of similar cases in which messaging services were earlier blocked around the world.
EU Countries
To date, there is no EU legislation restricting messengers or access to user data, but in the wake of a wave of terrorist attacks in Europe in 2015-2016, there were multiple calls to introduce the relevant legislative measures.
In August 2016, following a spate of deadly attacks in Paris in November 2015 and in Nice in July 2016, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the European Commission should introduce a law obliging operators to cooperate in investigations of Islamist militants and terror-related crimes.
“If such legislation was adopted, this would allow us to impose obligations at the European level on non-cooperative operators,” he told a joint conference with his German counterpart in Paris. Cazeneuve then touched upon Telegram, an encrypted app used worldwide, which he said did not cooperate with governments. He added that legislation should target both EU and non-EU companies.
“The fight against terrorism is the first priority for Europeans,” Cazeneuve said. “It's imperative that police have a single interface.”
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