A Moscow court has fined messaging service Threema €14,200 (CHF 14,363) for refusing to share user data with Russian authorities under a national anti-terrorism law.
This content was published on June 25, 2022 – 12:30
Keystone-SDA/gw
“The Russian Roskomnadzor authority apparently launched an investigation in March 2022, probably to set an example,” a Threema spokesperson told the German newspaper. Welt am Sonntag. The spokesman confirmed this information to the Keystone-SDA news agency on Saturday.
Threema was found guilty of ignoring the regulations of Russia’s anti-terrorism law, he added. According to this law, telecommunications companies must store data such as telephone calls, text messages, e-mails, videos and photos on their servers for a period of up to six months and, upon request, forward to the domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service. (FSB).
“Of course, we will not transmit any data to the Russian authorities under any circumstances,” said Threema boss Martin Blatter, quoted in Welt am Sonntag. The spokesperson argued that the company is bound by Swiss law, which does not allow the transfer of personal data to third countries – and certainly not to belligerent countries, he added.
Blatter said his company has no intention of paying the fine.
Threema is a competitor of the messaging service Telegram and the American application WhatsApp.
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