Russia wants Apple to remove Telegram from App Store

San Francisco: In its bid to enforce complete ban of Telegram, Russia has written to Apple asking the company to remove the instant messaging service from the App Store for Russian users and block it from sending push notifications to users in the country, the media reported.

Russia has given Apple one month to comply before they enforce punishment for violations, Wccftech reported this week.

Telegram, which provides an encrypted platform for communication, was banned in Russia back in April for refusing to share its encryption keys with Russia's Federal Security Service.

Citing the threat of criminals and terrorists using the app, a court ruling banned it from the country until the app provides the keys.

Russian telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor later said that it banned a number of Google IP addresses that allow Telegram to escape blockage in Russia over user data disputes.

To further restrict access to Telegram, Russia in May blocked 50 VPN services and Internet anonymizers, The Verge reported on Tuesday.

But despite these efforts, the use of the app in Russia is still widespread, according to reports.

The Kremlin has only succeeded to disrupt its operations by 15 to 30 per cent according to Roskomnadzor.