A Russian court allowed the government to ban the most popular local messaging application, Telegram, on Friday for refusing to provide access to users’ encrypted data.
The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, also known as Roskomnadzor, had requested the ban after Telegram denied the Federal Security Service access to users’ messages.

Thus, the Moscow court ruled to ban the popular messaging application until they respond to the request, making it the first chatting app to be officially banned in Russia.

The Russian government insisted that under the 2016 antiterrorism law, Telegram was obliged to provide a backdoor access to encrypted messages.

Despite application developer, Ravel Durov, slamming the Russian intelligence for trying to violate consumers’ rights, the government maintained that they needed access in order to target “terrorists” who used the platform.

The lawyer of the company, Pavel Chikov, complained that the court hearing had lasted less than 20 minutes, which indicted the case was politically motivated, according to AP.

"It is impossible to make any concessions or accept any agreements in this situation," he added.