Compromise on Privacy? Russia Lifts Telegram Ban, Praises Impact on Counterterrorism

After years of tug-of-war with regulatory authorities, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media of the Russian Federation (Roskomnadzor) has officially lifted a two-year ban on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, which had over 400 million users, following an agreement reached with the Russian Prosecutor General.

Resistance Against Authorities

Telegram founder Pavel Durov launched the mainstream social platform VKontakte in Russia at the young age of 22. In 2013, he introduced Telegram and has long resisted requests from the country's security services to provide backdoor access to Telegram.

In March 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that Telegram was obligated to grant security agencies access to user information. Regulatory authorities also demanded the nationwide blocking of Telegram. Due to repeated refusals to provide the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) access to encrypted user information, Federal Communications officially requested Apple's assistance in blocking Telegram in May of the same year, leading to Durov's departure from Russia.

Setbacks in the United States

However, Durov's endeavors in the United States faced challenges. Earlier reports stated that in early May, Durov officially announced the cessation of operations for the Telegram Open Network (TON), a blockchain project that raised nearly $1.7 billion in 2018 over a two-and-a-half-year period. Durov stated:

The U.S. not only prohibited the issuance of Gram (the token Telegram was preparing to release) locally but also globally. The reason being that even if issued in other countries, U.S. citizens might still find ways to access Gram tokens. Therefore, despite no objections from countries worldwide regarding Gram, the U.S. has decided to block the token's issuance on a large scale.

A Significant Regulatory Turnaround

On the 4th of this month, Durov pointed out in his personal Telegram channel that members of the State Duma, Fedot Tumusov and Dmitry Ionin, are proposing to lift the ban on Telegram within Russia. Durov expressed:

I welcome this proposal. With the ban lifted, over 30 million users in Russia can use Telegram more comfortably. Additionally, it could have a positive impact on the development of startups and national security in Russia.

Durov also emphasized that Telegram has made significant efforts in monitoring and combating extremists. His experience over the past six years has shown that fighting terrorism and ensuring user privacy are not mutually exclusive. This could assist Russian legislators in integrating these two tasks through Telegram.

It is understood that the two State Duma representatives submitted a bill on April 23 to terminate the ban on Telegram in Russia. This was primarily due to the massive outbreak of the coronavirus, with lawmakers believing that Telegram could help raise public awareness of government epidemic prevention measures. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media expressed appreciation for Durov's efforts in combating terrorism and extremism. According to an official statement, authorities have reached an agreement with the Prosecutor General of Russia to cancel the requirement to restrict access to Telegram.

However, the reason of enhancing awareness of epidemic prevention measures seems far-fetched. Shortly after the bill was proposed, another Russian department, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media, raised doubts by the end of May, stating that apart from information published on official websites, there was no need to disseminate information through additional communication software.

The Thin Line Between Privacy Protection and Facilitating Crime

Remember the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests last year? Telegram became the protesters' preferred platform due to its privacy features but also turned into a tool for the "Telegram Nth Room" criminal incident.

In March this year, it was reported that a South Korean suspect with the surname Cho set up eight chat rooms on Telegram since December 2018, using fraud and kidnapping to imprison victims, filming various explicit videos to attract users to pay to watch. The estimated number of viewers exceeded 260,000, with 74 victims, averaging around 24 years old.

If Telegram truly has developed a system, as claimed by Durov, that prevents the global spread of terrorism while ensuring user privacy according to Telegram's privacy policy, it would undoubtedly be a great boon for users.