Search For Compromise Between Russian Authorities, Telegram Still On Agenda - Tech Envoy

Search for Compromise Between Russian Authorities, Telegram Still on Agenda - Tech Envoy

The search for a compromise between Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor and the blocked Telegram messenger service is still on agenda, the Russian president's special representative for digital and technological development, Dmitry Peskov, said on Saturday.

ST. PETERSBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2018) The search for a compromise between Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor and the blocked Telegram messenger service is still on agenda, the Russian president's special representative for digital and technological development, Dmitry Peskov, said on Saturday.

"It is impossible to irrevocably block some [Web] resource, neither it is possible to let a resource pursue an absolutely autonomous policy, independently from the state ... The search for such a compromise [between Roskomnadzor and Telegram] remains on agenda ... Incremental steps and the search for compromise models are possible," Peskov told reporters.

The official noted that not a single agency in the world was capable of fully blocking any web resource.

"It is impossible in technical, technological, and infrastructure terms," he clarified.

On April 13, a Moscow district court authorized Roskomnadzor to block Telegram, after the messenger refused to give encryption keys to the Russian security services amid concerns that the messenger could be used by terrorists or criminals.

In response, the messenger started using built-in methods to bypass the restriction. As a result, Roskomnadzor has blocked a range of IP addresses belonging to Google and Amazon, which were used by Telegram.