Native of Tajikistan has been arrested in Moscow on suspicion of public calls for extremist activity, according to Russian RBC.
He reportedly admitted that he had created a group chat in Zello messenger, were he posted call for extremist activity, a source at Moscow police department was quoted as saying by RBC.
The chat also had calls for inciting religious enmity, the source added.
In mid-April, representative of the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, or Roskomnadzor, Vadim Ampelonsky, requested Russian operators to bloc Zell apps. He justified the request by saying that Zello Inc. owner had failed to submit information to Roskomnadzor for including in register of organizers of spread of information in time. Ampelonsky also noted that Zello had been actively used for organization of unauthorized protest actions among landsailors.
Meanwhile, Ms. Veronika Zaslavsaya, a chief operating officer (COO) at Zello, noted in an interview with RBC that Roskomnadzor demands are absurd and unfeasible.
Zello is an application startup located in Austin, Texas, behind the creation of Zello applications. The applications emulate push-to-talk (PTT) walkie-talkies over cell phone networks. The apps are available for Android, iOS, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Windows PC, rugged mobile devices and two-way radios. Zello is free while the Zello@Work application is free for up to five users. Zello simulates traditional two-way radios, offering additional features such as history, replay last message, notifications and Bluetooth device support. It works over 2G, 4G, 3G and GPRS/EDGE networks.
