Russian authorities have begun restricting access to Telegram, one of the country’s most popular social media apps, as the government continues to push everyday Russians toward its own tightly controlled alternatives to foreign tech platforms.
On Tuesday, the government said it was restricting access to Telegram for the “protection of Russian citizens,” accusing the app of refusing to block content authorities consider “criminal and terrorist.”
Russia’s telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor said in a statement that it would continue to restrict the operation of the Telegram messenger “until violations of Russian law are eliminated.”
There’s already been a trend of moving all the government chats (schools, hospitals, etc) to MAX. So, many people who need access to these services (especially parents of school children) have it already installed. So now blocking telegram isn’t seen as much of an issue for the majority of people. So I guess the government has already won the battle, which is a shame