UPDATE 4: Com watchdog head calls on Telegram to follow law or face blocking

(Adds comments from service’s head in paragraphs 13–15)           

MOSCOW, Jun 23 (PRIME) -- Director of the Russian communications service Alexander Zharov has called on messenger Telegram to respect law to avoid blocking, according to a statement released on Friday on the Web site of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media.

“I should say that at the moment all available opportunities of official communication with the team of Telegram have worn thin,” Zharov said.

The authority sends letters to Telegram almost daily with explanations of the law on organizers of information distribution. A special form should be filled in with all the required information about the company, which manages the messenger, and submit it to the service for adding to the register of organizers of information distribution.

The messenger’s administration keeps silent.

Inclusion on the list means that Telegram is ready to follow local laws, while its legal status will not change.

“In case of an actual refusal to execute duties of an organizer of information distribution, Telegram in Russia must be blocked until we get all the necessary information. The time given by the law to the communications service to make a decision is coming to an end. That’s why I’m publicly addressing the Telegram team and (the messenger’s founder) Pavel Durov in person: respect Russian law,” Zharov said.

Durov said that Russia will not win from the possible blocking of the service in the light of the U.S.’ control over other messengers.

“It’s paradoxical that Russia does not have blocking of U.S.-controlled WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger on the agenda, but there are massive talks of muting neutral-toward-Russia Telegram,” Durov said on its VKontakte page.

“As soon as Telegram is blocked, correspondence of Russian officials, their communication with friends and relatives, and other sensitive data via WhatsApp/Viber will flow to America-controlled clouds Apple iCloud/Google Drive.”

“What is the sense from the point of view of national security of Russia? From outside, it looks like a kind of sabotage of state interests.”

Zharov responded to Durov’s statement that he has not heard answers “to the questions posed in my address to the Telegram team and Pavel Durov.”

“Keeping to the point of the answer of Pavel Valeryevich (Durov), I should say that unfortunately he is neutral regarding the terrorists and perpetrators who use his messenger and absolutely ignores safety of ordinary users of Telegram,” he said.

Zharov said he called on Durov publicly because of convenience and popularity of the messenger, which is used in the country by about 10 million people.

“Existence outside the legitimate field and tenacious unwillingness to obey laws of the Russian Federation forced me to write this open letter,” Zharov said in an interview with NTV television channel.

“All letters have already been sent via official channels, but there is no response. And I found myself right in signaling publicly: Dear Mr. Durov! Respond! Enter the register of organizers of information distribution and show that you’re ready to respect laws of the Russian Federation.”

Presidential aide for the Internet German Klimenko said he sees no problem in possible blocking of Telegram in Russia, which has more than 30 similar messengers. “The most popular of them is ICQ. I use Facebook, VKontakte, and ICQ,” he said.

The law understands an organizer of information distribution in the Internet as an entity ensuring work of information systems or programs to accept, transfer, and process electronic messages of the network’s users.

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has suggested Zharov and Durov meet in the republic’s capital of Grozny for negotiations, business daily Vedomosti reported.

“I don’t want Telegram to be blocked, but it’s necessary to follow Russian law. As one of the most active users of this messenger, I think that the parties should sit down to talk instead of ignoring each other,” Kadyrov said.

The Chechen leader said he is ready to provide “a site for a meeting” in Grozny, where representatives of the communications service and Telegram could discuss a solution to the problem.

End