The internet watchdog in Russia announced this Tuesday that it will implement “gradual restrictions” on the messaging platform Telegramalleging a “violation” of the law.
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The announcement came at a time when Moscow is trying boost the use of digital services self-developed and with stricter controls.
“Russian law remains not applied (…), no real measure is applied to combat fraud and the use of messaging with criminal and terrorist fines,” indicated the Russian Telecommunications Supervision Agency (Roskomnadzor) in a statement.
Critics and human rights activists say this is a Kremlin’s attempt to intensify its control and surveillance of the internetin the midst of a broad repression against dissent within the framework of the offensive in Ukraine.
Roskomnadzor warned that “will continue to introduce gradual restrictions” on Telegram, which he claims has not complied with the legislation.
Telegram is widely used throughout Russia, both as a messaging service as a social network, and almost all important public figures. Including government agencies and the Kremlin, they regularly post messages on the platform.
The government is trying to push users towards a competitor supported by the state, called Maxwhich can also manage payments and government services.
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Russia had previously attempted to ban this social network, run by Pavel Dúrov, but ultimately failed in its attempts to block access and lifted the ban in 2020.
(With information from AFP)
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