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Comment by kokx | Hacker News Reader

So, Telegram is blocked. But Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are still online. Hence, this is pushing users of a (relatively) country-neutral service, towards more American services.

Seems like a weird move for Russia.

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This may also mean that Facebook is complying with the Russian government demands for at-will access to WhatsApp and Messenger content.

> WhatsApp and Messenger content. (emphasis mine)

Isn't WhatsApp supposed to be end-to-end encrypted making it next to impossible even for developers (Facebook Inc. in this case) to access the transmitted messages' content?

Wasn't it WhatsApp that sent a key back to Facebook servers? Technically it's end-to-end encrypted, but Facebook could decrypt it if they really wanted to.

Do you have a source for this claim?

It does not sound correct.

What use is it being end-to-end encrypted if, for all you know, they store the keys, or even decrypt and store all contents on their servers...

It's decrypted on my phone in their app. Theoretically, what stops them from connecting to my phone and reading the decrypted content from there?

I think a much simpler and more elegant answer is "they didn't think of that, they just want to block Telegram."

As someone in Russia, the block pretty much only hinders use of the legitimate services, not of Telegram. Numerous services exist to allow it to continue, and the block is a hack-job to try to prove a point.

As other have said, maybe the others are easier to compromise.

I would also adventure that it might have been seen as an easy target by the Russian intelligence agencies and they anticipated Telegram to secretly comply.

Any reasonable person would deduce that Facebook/American services are simply compliant.

Perhaps those American services are easier to compromise...

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