“Russia’s state telecommunications regulator wants Apple and Google to remove the Telegram messenger app service from their respective app stores,” Luke Dormehl reports for Cult of Mac.
“This follows a recent court decision in which a Russian judge ruled that Telegram, the world’s ninth most popular mobile messaging app, should be blocked in the country,” Dormehl reports. “This is due to the company’s refusal to give Russian state security services the encryption keys to access messages sent using the service.”
“Telegram was previously used by the Kremlin to communicate with reporters and arrange conference calls with President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman,” Dormehl reports. “The Kremlin has announced that it will be migrating to a new messaging service instead.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If they act as they do in China, Apple will ban Telegram from their App Store in Russia.
Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. — Potter Stewart
Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech. ― Benjamin Franklin
If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. ― George Washington
The Internet treats censorship as a malfunction and routes around it. — John Perry Barlow
SEE ALSO:
Apple is under fire for moving iCloud data to China; Amnesty International blasts move – February 28, 2018
Apple moves to store iCloud keys in China, raising human rights fears – February 26, 2018
Apple’s China lesson: Think different, but not too different – February 26, 2018
Apple in talks for first order from a Chinese chipmaker – February 14, 2018
Apple utterly dominates the premium smartphone market in China with 85% share – February 7, 2018
Apple warns users who created Apple IDs overseas on dodging China’s new data law – January 12, 2018
How U.S. iCloud users can ensure their data isn’t migrated to state-owned servers in China – January 11, 2018
Apple sets date to turn over cloud operations to a state-owned data center in China – January 10, 2018
U.S. Senate Republican Marco Rubio hits Tim Cook for kowtowing to China – December 13, 2017
Apple CEO Cook kissed the ring in China because he had no choice – December 4, 2017
Apple CEO Cook in China: Internet must have security, humanity – December 4, 2017
U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and Patrick Leahy blast Apple CEO Tim Cook for removing VPN apps from App Store in China – October 20, 2017
Apple issues statement regarding removal of VPN apps from China App Store – July 31, 2017
Apple removes VPN apps from China App Store – July 29, 2017
Apple sets up China data center to meet new cybersecurity rules – July 12, 2017
Analyst: China iPhone sales are pivotal for Apple – June 26, 2017
In bid to improve censorship, China to summon Apple execs to discuss stricter App Store oversight – April 20, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook named recipient of Newseum’s 2017 Free Expression Award – February 2, 2017
Telegram is only a problem for the Russians because of the way it backlogs communications. They need to scrub the info before the us federal and international investigators interstate people who have saved messages on their devices… the kremlin is trying to cover their tracks by deleting the cloud backup archive. They did something similar to Kaspersky labs about 6 years ago when they basically turned their security software into a data mining platform (don’t use Kaspersky).
I heard this story about Russia yesterday where they are banning secure message apps
http://englishrussia.com/2018/04/16/smiling-stalin-photos-photos/
Apparent WattsApp, which is owned by Facebook is working smoothly in Russia. What i want to know is does the Russians have a back door to WattsApp? Why had WattsApp not been stopped is Russia? I say this because WattsApp boasts about the security it provides with end to end encryption
It does not matter much as WhatsUp, Viber and all other social media and communications work under NSA’s PRISM program (see Snowden’s revelations); they all have unofficial backdoors to the servers’ raw data, what completely circumvents the whole encryption thing between the servers and you as a user. The genius of this is that such access is ordered via secret FISA fake courts that also simultaneously impose gag orders of the companies so they can not even admit they were ever subjected to any of the totalitarian spying rulings that enforce things like PRISM.
So before you fear Russians or Chinese, take care of the NSA (the FBI, and the CIA) first.
Yes, psychopaths can smile as easily as conscientious humans.
Spell Checking and descriptions:
WhatsApp – The freeware and cross-platform messaging and Voice over IP service now owned by Facebook.
VyprVPN – ‘… is a secure VPN that allows you to bypass restrictions imposed on sites and content to access a free and open Internet. Our proprietary Chameleon™ VPN technology defeats VPN-blocking, allowing anyone using the VPN apps to defeat censorship from any location in the world.’
Because commies hate freedom
Most Apple items are assembled in Commie China
The 2 comments (Snoop/tron) above are true. Apple is working with, bending to and probably will concede more to a govt that”fits” the great quotes MDN listed above. The world is a changin’.
You mean like the App Store censorship?
iCloud in-country management. Per “common knowledge,” I wonder if Apple has given, or knowingly lost IP to China?
I wouldn’t want to be TC in this realm, but I’d feel MUCH more comfortable if SJ would be directing these relationships.
Well my comment was was a reply to one about freedom, and censorship is freedom’s enemy.
“Commies”? Since when Russia has turned communist again?
Russia is a corrupt crony-capitalist fascist state, so your “point” is not just wrong, it’s irrelevant.
Russia: Criminal Nation, get bent.
Let’s all hope this invasion of privacy for the sake of convenience and paranoia by totalitarian government dickheads doesn’t come to the USA, UK, EU…. It’s well worth demanding our privacy rights as citizens. It’s up to governments to get used to it and deal with it. Governments serve citizens, never the other way ’round.
[I wish I didn’t have to post all of the above over and over and over lately. I’ll enjoy it when this latest assault of the loonies is over.]