Telegram founder Pavel Durov stated that behind Russia's decision to add him to the terrorist list lies his refusal of demands for mass surveillance and censorship on the messaging platform.
In a statement via Telegram, Durov said, "Russia recognized me as a 'terrorist' because I refused demands for mass surveillance and censorship on Telegram."
Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) added Durov to the list of terrorists and extremists the same day. This decision came after Russian authorities accused Durov of aiding terrorist activities and initiated the process of placing him on the international wanted list.
Durov also noted that under Russian law, he is now banned from 'disseminating information on the internet,' saying, "Russian authorities seem to be confused about who can ban whom from using the internet."
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 organizations to coordinate attacks and other crimes on Russian territory.