Telegram blocks data leak channel publishing correspondence of high-ranking Russian officials

Messenger service Telegram appears to have resumed blocking so-called “data leak” channels. Most notable is a block on the Black Mirror hacker group, which Telegram accuses of “doxxing and extortion”, Novaya Europe has discovered.

Black Mirror is known to publish the private correspondence and documents of high-ranking Russian officials and businessmen. The channel’s authors have also offered to sell archives to interested parties. Telegram has also deleted Black Mirror posts that users have forwarded in private correspondence or saved to their favourites.

On Monday, Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov said that he had received hundreds of reports about scams and blackmail, based on which Telegram would be banning numerous channels for doxxing and extortion by the end of the week.

“A ban for this reason means we have undeniable evidence that a channel’s admins published defamatory posts, then deleted them in exchange for payment from victims. Some have even been caught selling so-called ‘protection blocks’ — fees victims must pay to avoid being targeted,” Durov wrote.

The move comes amid suspicions of Telegram’s increased cooperation with Russian authorities, with over 373,000 posts or channels reportedly deleted in April alone at the request of Russian censorship agency Roskomnadzor.

In late June, Telegram blocked at least 10 channels that carried out open-source investigations. All the deleted channels had the abbreviation OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) in their name.

Such blocks could pose a new threat to independent media outlets and news channels in Russia, many of which have relied on Telegram to reach their Russian audiences since the invasion of Ukraine and have built up significant followings on the platform.

Disruptions to Telegram have been reported in recent days, with users complaining of difficulties making telephone calls via the service on Monday as Russian mobile operators consider blocking calls from foreign-owned messenger services under pressure from the security services.