Russia charges Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and puts him on wanted list
Russia has charged Telegram founder Pavel Durov with aiding terrorism and placed him on an international wanted list. The FSB alleges that Telegram has failed to remove channels used by extremist groups and intelligence agencies to coordinate illegal activities.
Why it matters
This move represents a significant escalation in the conflict between the Russian state and the encrypted messaging platform over privacy and national security.
Russia’s main domestic security agency said Wednesday that Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging app Telegram, has been charged with “aiding terrorism” and put on an international wanted list.
Telegram’s administration has not removed “numerous channels, chats and bots” that are “actively used by Ukrainian intelligence agencies, terrorist, and extremist organizations to prepare and coordinate acts of sabotage and terrorism, mass murder, and cyberfraud" in Russia, the agency said in a statement Wednesday,
The Federal Security Service is also known as the FSB.
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