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Kremlin says Telegram messenger ban 'not on agenda' yet

A court earlier ruled to fine Telegram $14,000 for its refusal to share requested information with the federal security service FSB

MOSCOW, October 16. /TASS/. The issue of blocking the messenger Telegram is not on the agenda for now, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked if the Kremlin foresaw any possibility the messenger might be blocked after the court’s decision to fine Telegram 800,000 rubles ($14,000) for its refusal to share requested information with the federal security service FSB.

"As far as I know, the issue is not on the agenda for now. In fact, nobody has raised it yet. There is a court decision, which I am not in the position to comment on. In this particular case no discussions about blocking the messenger are on at the moment," Peskov.

A court in Moscow fined the messenger Telegram 800,000 ($14,000) rubles for its refusal to provide information in response to a request from the federal security service FSB needed for decoding users’ messages.

As follows from the lawsuit, Russia’s federal security service FSB on July 12 addressed Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov with a request for providing information needed for decoding messages exchanged between the users of six phone numbers. July 19 was set as the deadline. The request failed to be acted on within the established deadline. There has been no other reply from Telegram, either.