First it was Zello, a walkie-talkie emulation app for smartphones. Now a Russian court has ordered that a popular text messaging app be blocked for the same reasons.

A Russian court on Friday ordered the blocking of a popular messaging app, Telegram, after it rejected to share its encryption data with authorities. The Moscow court on Friday ruled in favor of the Russian communications watchdog, which had demanded that Telegram be blocked in Russia until it hands over the keys to its encryption.

Russian authorities insist they need access to the encryption keys to investigate serious crimes, including terrorist attacks.

Telegram, a popular app developed by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, argues that Russia’s FSB intelligence service is violating consumer rights, while authorities say the app has been used by violent extremists.

You can read more in an article in the CNBC web site at: https://cnb.cx/2vcmWF9.

Obviously, Russian authorities do not believe that Russian citizens have a right to privacy.