Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that Telegram must comply with Russian law and establish contact with authorities, otherwise the messenger faces being blocked.
To fulfill the provisions of the legislation of the Russian Federation, to be in flexible contact with our authorities and find an option to solve these problems that exist
Roskomnadzor previously explained the restrictions by the fact that the platform does not protect users' personal data and does not counteract fraud, as well as the use of the messenger for criminal and terrorist purposes.
A Daily Storm source close to Pavel Durov called a complete blocking of Telegram inevitable. The key difference between the current situation and the attempt to block the application in 2018 is the presence of TSPU, technical means of countering threats. Eight years ago, operators were required to filter traffic only once a day, now Roskomnadzor monitors it in real time. According to media reports, the blocking is scheduled for April 1.
Telegram is a messenger with a multi-million audience in Russia, where it has long turned from a means of correspondence into the main platform for media, business and political communications. In 2018, Roskomnadzor had already tried to block the service, but without TSPU the attempt failed: Telegram switched between IP addresses faster than operators could block them. Now the regulator controls traffic centrally - the technical possibility for a real blocking exists in full for the first time.