Telegram founder Pavel Durov attributed Russia's decision to add him to the terrorist list to his resistance to mass surveillance and censorship demands on the app. In a statement on Thursday, July 30, Durov said the move was retaliation for his refusal.
In a post on Telegram, Durov said, "Russia recognized me as a 'terrorist' because I refused demands for mass surveillance and censorship on Telegram."
Durov also noted that under Russian law he is now banned from "disseminating information on the internet," adding, "Russian authorities seem confused about who can ban whom from using the internet."
Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) added Durov to the list of terrorists and extremists the same day. The decision came after authorities accused Durov of aiding terrorist activities and initiated proceedings to place him on an international wanted list.
Meanwhile, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) accused Telegram of refusing to remove channels, chats, and bots allegedly used by Ukrainian special services and extremist groups to coordinate attacks and other crimes on Russian territory.