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Earlier today, Russia’s Minister of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, outlined the reasons behind the slowing of the Telegram messaging app in the country, claiming the move was tied to the service’s “systematic and constant violation of the requirements of federal law.” According to Shadayev, Telegram did not remove prohibited content at the demand of Russia’s security agencies, while foreign intelligence services allegedly gained access to chats on the platform.
Shadayev said Telegram did not comply with requirements that data pertaining to voice call recordings and chat histories be stored inside Russia (where they would be accessible to Russian law enforcement agencies). He also said Telegram’s administration did not remove unlawful content at the request of Roskomnadzor, the Russian state communications regulator. His remarks were reported by the state-controlled news agency TASS.
Separately, Shadayev stressed that Russian law enforcement agencies have “direct confirmations” that the messenger is used by foreign intelligence services and that outside powers have access to Russian users’ correspondence:
“We have direct confirmations from law enforcement agencies that, unfortunately, if at the beginning of the ‘special military operation’ Telegram was regarded as a fairly anonymous service — our military used it — now there are many facts, confirmed by our agencies, that foreign intelligence services have access to correspondence in Telegram.”
It was unclear which countries’ intelligence services Shadayev was referring to.
Shadayev also said the messenger ignored 150,000 requests from Russian authorities to remove specific content. Earlier, lawmakers from the State Duma’s committee on information policy made identical claims, arguing that the messenger’s administration removes posts selectively.
“As of today, Telegram’s administration is in contact with Roskomnadzor. Relatively speaking, out of 100 materials that they ask to be deleted, some are deleted and some are not. That is very strange to me,” said committee head Sergey Boyarsky.
Since Feb. 9, many Telegram users in Russia began complaining about disruptions in the messenger’s operation. On Feb. 10, the RBC business daily reported that Roskomnadzor would immediately begin work on “slowing” Telegram across the country. The agency’s press service later officially confirmed the move, saying it aimed at “achieving compliance with Russian legislation and ensuring the protection of citizens.”
The Kremlin also expressed regret that Telegram, allegedly, does not comply with Russian law. At the time, however, no specific reasons for blocking the messenger were given.