Russia recently ordered Apple to remove the secure messaging app Telegram from the country’s App Store and Telegram’s CEO has now said that Apple has actually prevented Telegram from updating its app globally ever since the Russian order came in April. Telegram has already moved the courts in Russia to challenge the ban while the Federal Security Service maintains that the ban is essential to protect the country from security threats.
Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder and CEO, has said that the app was banned by Russia because the company refused to provide the decryption keys for its users’ communications to Russia’s security agencies. “We believe we did the only possible thing, preserving the right of our users to privacy in a troubled country,” he added.
Durov also pointed out that Russia only accounts for 7 percent of Telegram’s global user base and claimed that Apple has been restricting updates for Telegram users outside Russia as well. Apple hasn’t commented on the claim as yet.
He says that as a result of this, Telegram has not been able to fully comply with the recent enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation by the deadline of May 25th, 2018. We are continuing our efforts to resolve the situation”, Durov said.