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

(Adds comments from Chechen president in last three paragraphs)

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.

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