Russia’s state communications watchdog on Friday threatened to ban the Telegram messaging app, saying the company behind the service had failed to submit company details for registration.
In a message on its Web site, the Roskomnadzor agency warned that “time is running out” for Telegram to comply with the law.
Otherwise, “Telegram must be blocked in Russia,” it said.
The free instant messaging app lets people exchange messages, photos and videos in groups of up to 5,000 people. It has attracted about 100 million users since its launch in 2013.
In an unusual move, agency chief Alexander Zharov addressed Telegram’s secretive Russian chief executive officer Pavel Durov.
“I publicly call on the Telegram team and personally Pavel Durov: Carry out the Russian law!” Zharov wrote, adding: “The choice is yours.”
The watchdog said it had been sending messages to the company “practically every day” asking it to send company information for Roskomnadzor’s register.
Durov, who had previously refused to bow to government regulation that would compromise the privacy of users, called the threat “paradoxical” on one of his social media accounts.
He said it would force users, including “high-ranking Russian officials” to communicate via apps based in the US like WhatsApp.
The 32-year-old had previously created Russia’s popular VKontakte social media site before founding Telegram in the US.
Durov in April said that the app had “consistently defended our users’ privacy” and “never made any deals with governments.”
However, the service has drawn the ire of critics who say it can let criminals and terrorists communicate without fear of being tracked by police, pointing in particular to its use by the Islamic State group.
The app is one of several targeted in a legal crackdown by Russian authorities on the Internet and on social media sites in particular.
Since Jan. 1, Internet companies have been required to store all users’ personal data at data centers in Russia and provide it to the authorities on demand, and draft legislation that would make it illegal for messaging services to have anonymous users has already secured initial backing in parliament.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us
RSS