Russia Begins Limiting Access to Telegram Within the Country

Authorities in Russia have started restricting residents’ access to Telegram, one of the most widely used social media apps. This effort is geared at pushing Russians towards local alternatives that the government tightly controls.

The restrictions started on Tuesday, and the authorities claimed that their efforts are aimed at protecting Russian citizens. The Russian government accused Telegram of being unwilling to block content that Russia regards as “terrorist and criminal in nature.” Roskomnadzor, the regulator of telecommunications in the country, released a statement indicating that restrictions on Telegram messenger would continue until the platform eliminated violations of the country’s law.

Telegram rejects Roskomnadzor’s claims that the messaging app is used by criminal and terrorist elements, has ineffective anti-fraud protections, and that personal data protection is insufficient. Telegram insists it actively takes steps against any harmful use of the app. TASS, a news agency run by the Russian state, revealed that the messaging app could be fined up to $822,000 for reportedly declining to remove content that is prohibited and for being unable to self-regulate.

Russians complained of slowing app speeds, inability to access Telegram and other such complaints. This was after the new restrictions took effect on Tuesday this week.

It is interesting that Russia is targeting Telegram despite the Russian military, top officials in the government as well as government agencies like Roskomnadzor and even the Kremlin itself using the app. Millions of citizens prefer this app for their daily communication.

Pavel Durov, who founded the app and was born in Russia, issued a statement affirming that the government’s efforts to restrict Telegram would be futile since the app is built to withstand any pressure exerted or used to compromise privacy or freedom of speech. He adds that the state is trying to steer citizens to its own messaging app that was built with the primary intention of censoring political discourse and for surveillance objectives. Durov says the reasons the state is providing for restricting Telegram are mere fabrications.

The government’s preferred alternative is Max, an app that was developed by a firm that Durov co-founded before he sold his stake in 2014 and left the country. The government now mandates that Max comes pre-installed on each tablet and smartphone sold within the country.

Efforts to block Telegram in Russia aren’t new. Back in 2018, a similar attempt was made following other attempts in the past. Ironically, this latest attempt to restrict Telegram has drawn a backlash from supporters of the country’s operations in Ukraine, with a prominent military blogger who supports Russia saying the authorities are compelling Russian troops to revert to “carrier pigeons” to communicate during the war with Ukraine.

These developments in Russia are likely to be closely watched by firms like Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META) that own some of the other widely used messaging and social media apps in Russia and around the world.

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