Increased pressure by the Russian government on messaging platform Telegram marks a significant escalation that could pose service slowdowns or partial restrictions for its estimated 100 million users in Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was speaking a day after Roskomnadzor,
the state communications regulator, said Telegram would face further restrictions because it has failed to correct previous violations
Kremlin Issues Ultimatum
Roskomnadzor said a number of messaging apps, including Telegram, had not taken action over the past few months to address its complaints.
As before, Russian law is not being observed, personal data is not protected, and there are no effective measures to counter fraud and the use of the messaging app for criminal and terrorist purposes. Therefore, by decision, the authorized bodies will continue to impose successive restrictions in order to ensure compliance with Russian legislation and ensure the protection of citizens.
Separately, state news agency RIA reported that Telegram could face fines of up to 64 million roubles ($830,000) in eight upcoming court hearings for allegedly failing to remove information required by Russian law. According to the report, bailiffs were also looking for another 9 million roubles in unpaid fines from the past.
User Impact
In recent weeks, there has been a surge of complaints among users that their performance is slow, something that also happened in 2025, with the blocking of calls using Telegram and WhatsApp due to the fear of fraud and the demand to combat terrorism.
On 10 February, founder Pavel Durov replied that Telegram is committed to protecting freedom of speech and privacy under no external pressure and accused Moscow of promoting the state-sponsored variant of this feature MAX.
He wrote on his Telegram channel.
Restricting citizens’ freedom is never the right answer. Telegram stands for freedom of speech and privacy, no matter the pressure.
Future Trajectory
It is possible to expect further aggravation of throttling or blocks of partial service provisions by mid-2026 should Telegram continue with its present position, which may even encourage the adoption of VPNs or other local software. The resilience can be provided by historical precedents as previous disruptions stimulated the use of other options like Signal.
More importantly, the result will test the effectiveness of the digital practices of control by Russia: success will embolden them to take further measures, such as against WhatsApp, and failure will give rise to a large-scale protest around the world.
The unwavering privacy policy of Telegram could force Moscow to work on its strategy, trying to balance the needs of security against the threats of suppressing freedom of speech.
