The Russian authorities will not block Telegram “in the North-Eastern Military District” for now

The Ministry of Digital Development announced security risks and pressure on the platform

Russian authorities will not yet block Telegram’s work during the war in Ukraine. This was stated by the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy.

“It has been decided not to restrict the operation of Telegram in the North-West zone at this time. But we hope that over some time our military will be able to rebuild and switch to Russian services,” the minister said.

At the same time, according to Shadayev, the authorities have “direct confirmation” that foreign intelligence services have access to correspondence on Telegram and use it against the Russian military. He did not provide any evidence for these allegations.

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Slowdown and restrictions: what has already happened

Restrictions on Telegram in Russia will be introduced in the summer of 2025. Then video calls were blocked in the messenger.

On February 10, the RBC publication reported an increase in the “slowdown” of the service - users were having problems downloading media files. Roskomnadzor later said it would continue “consistent restrictions” to ensure compliance with Russian legislation and “protection of citizens.”

The new measures caused a wave of criticism in pro-war telegram channels. The leader of A Just Russia, Sergei Mironov, said that Telegram remains “the only normal connection” for the Russian military, and called the slowdown of the messenger harmful. At the same time, the Kremlin said that they could not imagine front-line communications provided through Telegram.

Position of the Ministry of Digital Development and Roskomnadzor

The Ministry of Digital Development reported that the decision to slow down Telegram services was made by Roskomnadzor based on the requirements of federal legislation. As Shadayev told the TASS agency, the messenger ignored about 150 thousand requests from Russian authorities to remove materials with prohibited information.

The minister also noted that the number of crimes using instant messengers has tripled since 2022. According to Shadayev, after blocking voice calls on Telegram, fraudulent calls began to decline.

“First there are fines, then voice fines, then a slowdown - I can’t say further,” Shadayev emphasized.

There are rumors in Russia about a complete blocking of Telegram

Earlier, the Baza telegram channel reported that from April 1, Roskomnadzor could allegedly begin completely blocking Telegram throughout Russia, similar to Instagram and Facebook.

In response, the State Duma urged not to scare users with a specific blocking date. Deputy Chairman of the Information Policy Committee Andrei Svintsov told RIA Novosti that the restrictions could be lifted from April 1 if Telegram begins to comply with Russian laws - it opens a legal entity, stores personal data in Russia, pays taxes and blocks prohibited content. According to him, this week the messenger blocked more than two hundred and thirty thousand channels and files, which indicates “interaction” with the authorities.

Member of the State Duma IT Committee Anton Nemkin urged not to draw conclusions based on rumors and look at the dynamics. According to him, a one-time large-scale blocking of hundreds of thousands of channels is a signal, but not a final solution to the systemic problem.

He emphasized that Telegram remains one of the key platforms for the dissemination of fraudulent schemes, fake fees, extremist materials and illegal offers.

Previously, “Verstka” wrote about how to bypass Telegram blocking and why Roskomnadzor managed to slow down the messenger in the first place.

Illustration: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto

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