Russians began to spend less time on the Internet

At the beginning of 2026, the time that Russians spend on the Internet decreased by 3%. On average, users began to spend less than five hours a day online. This was reported by Kommersant with reference to data from the Rodnaya Rech group of companies.

At the same time, the time spent watching TV continues to decline. Thus, in January-February this figure decreased by 4% - to 3 hours 45 minutes per day. Thus, the reduction affected both online content and traditional television.

Analysts attribute the trend to increased blocking and slowdowns of Internet platforms by Roskomnadzor, as well as regular communication interruptions in certain regions of the country. According to them, restrictions change audience behavior and reduce the overall time of content consumption.

In early February, the regulator began to restrict the work of Telegram in Russia, explaining that the company’s management systematically ignores the requirements of Russian legislation. Users then complained about problems loading multimedia in the messenger, including voice messages, circles, stories, photos and videos.

Roskomnadzor stated that it would continue to restrict the operation of the messenger if its developers did not enter into dialogue and place servers in the country. Later, information appeared that Telegram would be completely blocked in Russia in early April.

However, the publication recalls that a decrease in media consumption has been recorded previously. At the end of the first half of 2025, time spent on the Internet decreased by 3%, and in the online video segment by 11%. At that time, participants in the advertising market explained the negative dynamics by the outflow of audiences from YouTube, which, since 2024, has actually stopped working fully in Russia.

At the same time, as Kommersant writes , for the first time since 2019, Russians began to listen to the radio more. Thus, the radio audience in the second half of 2025 increased by 0.4%, to 49.3 million people.