Messaging app Telegram fined for refusing Russian surveillance request

A court in Moscow has fined smartphone messaging app Telegram for refusing to give Russian authorities the decryption keys needed to decipher communications between customers.

The Meshchansky Court handed down a 800,000 ruble (roughly $14,000) fine on Monday after the company failed to comply with a government order seeking the digital keys required to decrypt the messages of a half-dozen Telegram customers – a fraction of a percentage of the roughly 10 million Russians currently using the encrypted messaging app to privately communicate, according to the company’s founder, self-exiled Russian internet tycoon Pavel Durov.

The fine is a mere slap on the wrist for Mr. Durov, a multi-millionaire who first made bank founding VK, Russia’s largest social networking service, but risks opening the door for Moscow to outright ban Telegram, potentially once and for all reining in the platform following months of warnings from federal regulators.

The penalty centers around a request made July 12 by the FSB, Russia’s counter-intelligence agency, seeking information needed to decrypt messages from six Telegram accounts, according to multiple news reports. The FSB notified Telegram on Aug. 31 that it planned to penalize the company unless it complied, and on Sept. 14 it initiated those proceedings, the reports said.

Telegram was fined under part 2.1 of Article 13.31 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, failure to provide law enforcement information for decoding messages, and has 10 days to appeal.

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s government media watchdog, may compel Telegram to surrender its decryption keys if the ruling is upheld on appeal, the Meduza news site reported.