UPDATE: Telegram owner warns against complacency despite registration

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MOSCOW, Jun 30 (PRIME) – Although Telegram messenger has been registered with the Russian government, it is too early to relax, its owner Pavel Durov said on Friday.

“Contradiction between the confidentiality policy of Telegram (‘not a single byte of personal data to third parties’) and some Russian Federation laws has not disappeared,” he said on his VKontakte page.

“Telegram works on the same principles around the globe: even in the conservative Iran, where Facebook and Twitter are blocked and Telegram has more than 40 million active users, the government has not received from us a single byte of personal user data. We won’t step away from our principles for the sake of keeping a market share in some countries.”

After a week of haggling, Durov supported the resource’s inclusion into a Russian register of information distribution organizers to avoid nationwide muting saying that only open information was required with no interference in private correspondence.

Telegram’s founder also advised users to install the latest update, which makes the messenger more resistant to potential blocking in the future.

Communications and Mass Media Minister Nikolai Nikiforov said he was surprised with the public attention received by Telegram in the matter.

“Frankly speaking, I was quite taken aback by the public discussion. If there is a question of following the law, which was adopted in 2014, by the way, I don’t understand such public discussions to pop up all of a sudden in June 2017,” Nikiforov said.

When a law takes effect, it must be strictly observed, the minister said. “That’s why we should closely watch how these or those organizers of information distribution execute it. Telegram is not the only and by far the most popular organizer of information distribution. The law must be respected by all market players,” he said.

Nikiforov said that he sees no obstacles now for Telegram’s work in Russia as all information was submitted to the watchdog and added to the register.

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