The decision to restrict Telegram's activities in Russia was made due to the messenger's refusal to comply with Russian legislation, said Russian President's press secretary Dmitry Peskov in an interview with TASS.
“I see and read statements by Roskomnadzor that the decision was made to slow down Telegram's activities because the company does not comply with Russian legislation. It is a great shame that the company does not comply with it, but there is a law that must be complied with“, he said, answering a question about plans to block Telegram in Russia.
On February 9 and 10, users in Russia complained about interruptions in the Telegram service. On February 10, RBC sources reported that Roskomnadzor had decided to start restricting the messenger's activities. Roskomnadzor later confirmed that it continues to impose “consistent restrictions“ to ensure that Telegram complies with Russian law and guarantees the security of Russian citizens' data.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov subsequently stated that the messenger would continue to adhere to the principle of freedom of speech and respect users' privacy “despite pressure“. “Limiting citizens' freedom is never the right decision“, he noted.
Durov recalled that the Iranian authorities banned Telegram in 2018, but according to him “most Iranians still use Telegram, bypassing censorship“.
In the spring of the same year, Telegram was blocked in Russia by a court decision. Then the FSB requested encryption keys from the platform to access messages, but the messenger's management refused to provide them. The authorities decided to unblock Telegram in the summer of 2020.
In August last year, the messenger had problems with calls. Roskomnadzor explained the restrictions as a response to the spread of fraud, which, according to the agency, was used by Telegram's voice service. A new wave of restrictions followed in the fall, as Roskomnadzor said that the platform's management ignored requests to combat fraud. WhatsApp was also restricted at that time.
Telegram said that it was actively combating malicious use of the messenger, including calls for sabotage, violence and fraud. WhatsApp representatives, for their part, promised to do everything possible to ensure that users in Russia have access to end-to-end encrypted communication.