Russia asks Google and Apple to remove Telegram from their app stores

[midian182]

It’s fair to say that in light of the Syria situation, the Skripal poisoning, and yet another government-backed cyberattack, Russia’s relationship with the west isn’t particularly warm right now. But that hasn’t stopped the country from formally asking Google and Apple to remove the Telegram app from their respective app stores.

The long-running legal battle between state communications regulator Roskomnadzor and the encrypted messaging app came to a head last week when a court ordered Telegram blocked in Russia.

It reportedly took the court just 18 minutes to come to a decision, which was a result of the app’s owners’ refusal to share its encryption keys with government agencies, such as the Federal Security Service (FSB), thereby allowing them to access users’ messages.

Telegram tried to circumvent the ban by moving some of its operations to Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud servers over the weekend. But Roskomnadzor responded by banning more than 1.8 million IP addresses belonging to the tech giants yesterday. By doing so, Roskomnadzor also blocked a number of legitimate services, including online games, mobile apps, and cryptocurrency services. A similar situation occurred when Roskomnadzor told ISPs to block 15 million IP addresses as way of taking down walkie talkie app Zello a few weeks ago. Most of those also belonged to Amazon, which led to the company asking Zello not to use its servers.

So our blessed government blocked a bunch of Amazon IP addresses because they were used to circumvent the block on the Telegram messaging app. As a result, a whole bunch of MMOs and other multiplayer games using Amazon IPs stopped working. Idiocy still reigns supreme.

— The Old Man From Scene 24 (@Ariurotl) April 16, 2018

Roskomnadzor hopes to prevent more people downloading Telegram by asking Apple and Google to remove all related apps from their regional app stores. Neither company has commented on the request, so it’s unclear whether they’ll agree—or if they’ll face any consequences for failing to comply.

Some Russian Telegram users, including members of government agencies, are skirting the ban by using VPNs. But Alexander Zharov, head of Roskomnadzor, said virtual private networks would also be blocked if they are found to be connecting users to banned services.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/74196-russia-asks-google-apple-remove-telegram-their-app.html

 

[senketsu]

I'm surprised they even asked. Cold War over?? It never ended, sadly. I've been reading up on VPN's and I think they give their users a false sense of security. One 'expert' said the only VPN he would use is the one he would run and be in control of. It's kind of the lock on your house, it only keeps the honest people out. If someone really wants in, it is not of much use.

 

[cliffordcooley]

One 'expert' said the only VPN he would use is the one he would run and be in control of. It's kind of the lock on your house, it only keeps the honest people out. If someone really wants in, it is not of much use.

I think it is more like voting for president. You vote for the lessor of two evils. Which might just be a better option than not voting at all.

With that said; I've never used a VPN, then again I've never had a reason to either.

 

[alabama man]

Why don't they just block google and apple stores? They should make their own store that they could regulate better, also they wouldn't be sending so much money to USA.

 

[regiq]

Tor is already banned in Russia: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/russia-passes-bill-banning-tor-vpns/

The regime tightens.

 

[p51d007]

But the media LOVES Putin(Russia). Russian's have free elections (yeah, only 1 person on the ballot). Everyone thought the cold war was over when the Soviet Union broke up. HA! Look at the history of
The Russian empire, the soviet union. They are always expanding for a reason. It's in their "DNA" to
expand their territory. It gives them breathing room, if they are invaded. They did it during the Napoleon
war, they did it during WW2. They will give up land, fighting in retreat, wearing down the invader, to protect their "core" (use to be St. Petersburg was the capital, now it's Moscow). Hillary being defeated, set back their goal of absorbing their former "colonies" back into the USSR. Their biggest problem right now, is $$$$.

 

[ypsylon]

Let ban Russia, China and other (crawling-)dictatorships from the Internet.

Simple enough.