The Supreme Court rejected the TELEGRAM lawsuit against the FSB

The Supreme Court refused to satisfy the TELEGRAM Messenger Limited claim for recognizing the order of the Federal Security Service that establishes the procedure for submitting keys to decipher user messages. This is reported by Interfax.

The representative of the FSB in court stated that the transfer of keys for decoding correspondence "does not affect the constitutional rights of citizens" and asked the lawsuit to reject. "The transfer of the requested information does not disclose information about the fact of transmission and receiving messages and does not disclose the content of the messages," he said. The representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office supported the position of the special services, explaining that the disputed order was adopted within the powers of the FSB and in accordance with the norms of the law.

After the decision of the Armed Forces, Roskomnadzor notified Telegram of the need to provide the special service with encryption keys. "Based on Article 15.4 of the Federal Law" On Information, Information Technology and Information Protection, "Roskomnadzor sent a notification to Telegram Messenger Limited about the need to fulfill the duties of the organizer of information distribution," the agency said . Roskomnadzor will block access to the messenger if he fulfills this requirement within 15 days.

Meanwhile, lawyer Ramil Akhmetgaliev, representing the interests of Telegram in the Armed Forces , stated that the messenger could not fulfill the order of the Service. "At the moment, the Telegram did not answer the FSB request. The company considers it his duty to maintain the secret of user correspondence," Akhmetgaliev said. The lawyer noted that at the moment, for failure to fulfill the decision on the transfer of keys, the messenger is facing a fine, and its blocking is possible only in court. "According to the amendments to the legislation that entered this year, Roskomnadzor must go to court separately for blocking," Akhmetgaliev emphasized.

"The threats to block Telegram, if he does not provide the private data of users, will not bear fruit. Telegram will continue to defend the freedom and inviolability of private life," wrote the creator of the messenger Pavel Durov.

On October 16, the world judge of the 383rd section of the Meshchansky district of Moscow Julia Danilchik fined Telegram for 800 thousand rubles in part 2.1 of Article 13.31 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (non-fulfillment by the organizer of the dissemination of information, the obligation to provide information to decode electronic messages). On December 12, the judge of the Meshchansky district court Julia Mordvina confirmed this decision .

The reason for the initiation of the case was the refusal of Telegram to provide the FSB with the key encryption keys. Meanwhile, the head of the team of the messenger developers Pavel Durov noted that the requirements of the security forces not only contradict Article 23 of the Constitution, guaranteeing the confidentiality of correspondence, but also unrealized.

On December 14, Agora, in connection with the decision of the fine imposed on Telegram, turned to the UN specialist on issues of the right to freedom of speech to David Kaye. The document contained a request to recommend to the Russian government "to refrain from expanding the practice of arbitrary interference in citizens' right to freedom of expression, privacy and anonymity, including online." Such actions of Russia, the appeal said, contradict the resolutions of the UN General Assembly "The right to inviolability of private life in the digital era."

On March 14, Roskomsvoboda, on behalf of 35 users of the Telegram messenger, filed a collective lawsuit in the Meshchansky District Court with a demand to recognize the actions of the FSB. “We ask the court to recognize the FSB’s actions to make the FSB’s actions by Telegram Messenger Limited Liability Partnership the information necessary to decipher all users, as well as oblige the department to withdraw this requirement,” said Sarkis Darbinese, head of the legal practice of Roskomovoboda.