Russia Blocks Telegram App

Russia began on Monday banning the Telegram app. (AFP)
Russia began on Monday banning the Telegram app. (AFP)
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Russia Blocks Telegram App

Russia began on Monday banning the Telegram app. (AFP)
Russia began on Monday banning the Telegram app. (AFP)

Russia began on Monday blocking the Telegram app after it refused to give the security services access to private conversations.

"Roskomnadzor has received the ruling of (Moscow's) Tagansky court to block Telegram's services on Russian territory. This information was sent to providers on Monday," Russia's communications watchdog said in a statement.

The service, set up by a Russian entrepreneur, has more than 200 million global users and is ranked as the world's ninth most popular mobile messaging app.

Telegram has repeatedly refused to comply with requests to give the Federal Security Service (FSB) access to its users' encrypted messages.

The FSB has said it needs such access to guard against security threats such as terrorist attacks. But Telegram said compliance would violate users' privacy.

Some Russian internet providers began blocking Telegram on Monday afternoon.

"Russian authorities have begun blocking Telegram. The service could be unstable without a VPN. We will inform you on the developing situation," the messaging app notified its Russian users.

Around 10 activists were arrested after demonstrating outside the FSB headquarters against the move, Maria Alekhina, a member of the Russian protest punk group Pussy Riot, told Ekho Moskvy radio.

The Kremlin's press service told journalists on Monday that it will be switching to ICQ, a 1990s chat service now owned by billionaire Alisher Usmanov's Mail.ru, to communicate with them.

"It is telling that authoritarian governments (e.g., Russia) are trying to block Telegram over encryption, but are more relaxed when it comes to other encrypted messaging apps," Pavel Durov, the app's maverick creator -- dubbed Russia's Mark Zuckerberg -- wrote on Twitter.

Writing on Vkontakte, the social media platform Durov founded that is now under state control, he said the decision harms Russia's national security as users will switch to WhatsApp and Facebook which are "controlled from the US."

"We believe the ban is anti-constitutional and will continue to defend the right of Russians to private messaging," said Durov, who left Russia in 2014 and is now based in Dubai.

Durov has long said he will reject any attempt by the country's security services to gain backdoor access to the app.

The ban followed a long-running battle between authorities and Telegram, which has a reputation for securely encrypted communications, as Moscow pushes to increase surveillance of internet activities.

Telegram, a free application that lets people exchange messages, stickers, photos and videos in groups of up to 5,000 people, has attracted more than 200 million users since its launch by Durov and his brother Nikolai in 2013.

Russia has acted to curb internet freedoms as social media have become the main way to organize demonstrations.



Israel Far-Right Issues Rare Rebuke of Settler Attack on Army

Israeli settlers carrying weapons during clashes in which Palestinians were attacked in the town of Huwara in the West Bank. (Getty Images/AFP file)
Israeli settlers carrying weapons during clashes in which Palestinians were attacked in the town of Huwara in the West Bank. (Getty Images/AFP file)
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Israel Far-Right Issues Rare Rebuke of Settler Attack on Army

Israeli settlers carrying weapons during clashes in which Palestinians were attacked in the town of Huwara in the West Bank. (Getty Images/AFP file)
Israeli settlers carrying weapons during clashes in which Palestinians were attacked in the town of Huwara in the West Bank. (Getty Images/AFP file)

An assault by Israeli settlers on soldiers in the occupied West Bank drew condemnation from across the political spectrum, including an unusual rebuke from far-right ministers who typically support the settlement movement.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, considered the two most hardline members of the ruling coalition, called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.

The army said dozens of "civilians" attacked its forces on Sunday night at a military base in the central West Bank, vandalizing army vehicles and a security installation.

According to Israeli media, the attackers were settlers who targeted the commander of the military's Binyamin Regional Brigade, calling him a "traitor".

The attack was widely seen as a reprisal for the arrest of six settlers two days earlier.

In that incident, the commander and troops were attacked as they tried to stop settlers entering a closed military zone near the Palestinian village of Kafr Malik.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned both attacks, saying "no law-abiding country can tolerate acts of violence and anarchy".

Ben-Gvir was among the last senior figures to react.

"Harming our security forces, security installations and the soldiers who are our children, brothers and defenders, crosses a red line, and must be treated with the utmost severity," he wrote on X.

A lawyer, Ben-Gvir gained a name for himself before entering politics by defending in court several settlers accused of attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

Smotrich wrote on X: "Violence against (Israeli) soldiers and our beloved police forces and the destruction of property are unacceptable."

- West Bank violence -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and violence has surged there since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza following Hamas's October 2023 attack.

Since then, Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 947 Palestinians -- many of them militants, but also scores of civilians -- according to Palestinian health ministry figures.

At least 35 Israelis, including both civilians and security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to Israeli official figures.

But settler attacks on army positions are rare.

"It was too much, even for the far-right," said Simon Perry, a security expert and associate professor in the criminology department at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

"The rioters went overboard," he told AFP.

Nimrod Goren, an expert on foreign relations and a veteran commentator on Israeli politics, said the far-right's outrage at the assault was merely "lip service", however.

Violent assaults by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have become common since 2023, without drawing any criticism from the political class, he noted.

"But when soldiers are affected, all of a sudden people are alerted," said Goren, who is chairman of the Israeli foreign policy think tank Mitvim.

- Settlers' eviction drive -

According to the two Israeli experts, the rioters were part of an informal movement known as the hilltop youth, whose goal is to evict Palestinian residents and establish settlements in the West Bank without government approval.

The movement constitutes a fringe, even among the Religious Zionist movement, the ideological backbone of the settlement enterprise.

Several human rights NGOs have denounced the rise in violence committed by the settlers, and their perceived impunity.

Shortly after his appointment in November 2024, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced an end to administrative detention for West Bank settlers, a practice that allows security forces to detain suspects without charge.

Israeli media say the move emboldened extremist settlers and led to a wave of attacks in the Palestinian territory.

On Tuesday, the Israeli press reported that Katz would not bring it back, contrary to the opinion of Israel's Shin Bet security service.

The measure is still in place for Palestinians.

The recent settler violence against army positions in the West Bank even prompted condemnation from leaders within the movement.

"Those who wish to protest must act according to the law and not confront the army," Oded Revivi, a former mayor of the Efrat settlement, and a prominent settler figure, told AFP.

There are around 160 Israeli settlements scattered throughout the West Bank, which the UN considers illegal. Their residents number about 500,000, living among a population of three million Palestinians.