The head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Sergey Boyarsky, stated that the messengers WhatsApp* and Telegram must follow the norms of Russian legislation. According to him, no authorities will restrict the operation of these programs "out of spite."
No one is going to turn off or slow down anything out of spite. But they, like guests in any house, must operate according to Russian laws. Open an office in Russia, cooperate in the fight against fraudsters. But neither WhatsApp* nor Telegram responded to this. Therefore, in August 2025, it was decided to degrade their voice calls.
Boyarsky explained that Telegram continues to operate in Russia, and the authorities are not blocking it because many Russians run their channels there. Boyarsky himself also continues to run his channel in Telegram, although he has already started another one in the Max messenger.
For those who want to continue using banned social networks, the deputy does not prohibit using means to bypass blocking.
You wanted to go to the banned Instagram. Go, look, turn off the VPN. You wanted to watch something on YouTube — turn on the VPN, watch, turn off. If someone desperately wants to call on WhatsApp*, call, but then turn it off. Because if you live with a VPN turned on, all the efforts of the state spent on ensuring that a teenager does not encounter death groups, terrorists, pedophiles, are nullified.
The Russian authorities continue to impose restrictions on the operation of foreign services that do not comply with Russian legislation. Thus, in 2025, the operation of the YouTube video hosting service was restricted. What happened was called "slowing down the service." The resource physically opens, but does not load due to restrictions from providers, who do this at the request of Roskomnadzor. State Duma Deputy Anton Gorelkin stated that the service must pay fines to revive it.
At the same time, the authorities have repeatedly spoken about the possibility of blocking WhatsApp*. The fact is that the service ignores the requirements of the Russian regulator.
* BELONGS TO META, WHOSE ACTIVITIES ARE RECOGNIZED AS EXTREMIST AND PROHIBITED IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
