Pavel Durov, a Russian businessman and the founder of the Telegram messanger, has agreed for his firm to be registered in Russia, after coming under pressure from the authorities, but said it would not share confidential user data with anyone, reports Reuters.
Russia's fedral telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor had threatened to block the messanger if it did not hand over information needed to put the application on an official government list of information distributors.
Telegram had refused to comply because it feared that it would undermine the privacy of its more than 6 million Russian users.
The watchdog said on 28 June that Telegram had now presented all the required data.
Durov said later via social media that while he was happy for Telegram to be formally registered in Russia and to supply basic information about the company, he would not do anything to violate the app users' privacy.
After threatening to block Telegram, Russian authorities increased pressure on the company earlier this week, saying that terrorists had used the Telegram application to carry out a deadly suicide bombing on Russian soil.
