Russian app Telegram fined for failing to hand over data on St Petersburg bombing

Russian messaging app Telegram has been fined more than $13,000 for failing to hand over data on suspects linked to the St Petersburg metro bombing.

Investigators requested information on six phone numbers, two of which were involved in the deadly blast in April 2017. The attack killed 16 people and injured more than 50.

Speaking in court on Tuesday, company lawyers said that the request was both unlawful and technically impossible.

“The decryption keys for mobile chats are kept on the devices themselves,” the court was told. “[Russia’s Federal Security Service], the FSB, wants Telegram to embed a vulnerability into our system.”

Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, has repeatedly locked horns with the Russian government over privacy issues, slamming FSB requests for information as “unconstitutional.” The Kremlin has threatened to block the service in Russia if it does not comply with government orders: a fate which has already affected other messaging services such as WeChat and BBM Messenger.

Telegram is one of Russia’s most popular apps, with 100 million monthly active users worldwide.