Russia probes Telegram founder, Pavel Durov for ‘aiding terrorism’

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of Telegram, said Tuesday, Feb. 24, that Russian authorities were probing him for aiding terrorism, the latest escalation in Moscows repeated attempts to block the popular messenger. Moscow has restricted access to both Telegram and WhatsApp, Russias two most popular messaging apps, as it tries to shift users onto Max a state-backed alternative which critics say lacks privacy. Russia has opened a criminal case against me for aiding terrorism, Durov, who holds Russian and French citizenship and lives outside Russia, wrote on Telegram. Each day, the authorities fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians access to Telegram as they seek to suppress the right to privacy and free speech, he added. Russia has been unsuccessfully trying to block Telegram for years and has repeatedly demanded Durov give the FSB security service back-door access to get round its encryption and access user data. Earlier on Tuesday, some state media outlets published lengthy articles, citing FSB materials, that claimed Durovs reluctance to cooperate with the authorities had led to de@ths as Telegram was allegedly being used to coordinate so-called terrorist attacks. There was no official comment from Russian law enforcement on whether an investigation into Durov was opened. The Kremlin often uses allegations and charges of terrorism or extremism to suppress dissent and prosecute critics, a practice that has ramped up amid the Ukraine offensive, which hit the four-year mark on Tuesday. As well as being a messenger, Telegram is used widely as the countrys main social media platform. The Kremlin itself publishes there several times a day and last week Peskov said it would keep its official account.The post Russia probes Telegram founder, Pavel Durov for aiding terrorism appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.