Protests against planned Telegram ban prevented in at least eight Russian cities

Residents of at least 11 Russian cities have attempted to stage protests against the Kremlin’s planned blocking of popular messenger app Telegram in the past few weeks, an investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe revealed on Thursday.

Only two of the planned protests were allowed by the authorities to go ahead so far, while at least eight others were banned on grounds that varied from high snowfall to  coronavirus restrictions, and even “large numbers of potential attendees”.

The authorities in the southern Siberian city of Barnaul reportedly refused permission for a planned protest on the grounds that neither “political repression” nor “the blocking of popular internet resources” were valid concerns in Russia.

Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, announced in February that access to Telegram would be blocked by all Russian internet service providers from 1 April, sending shockwaves through the country, which has an estimated 90 million Telegram users, making it the most popular messenger app and social media platform for Russians.

The Russian authorities have long taken issue with Telegram’s privacy and end-to-end encryption function, citing national security concerns and the app’s frequent use by scammers, and have for the past year been attempting to persuade Telegram users to switch to state-controlled “super app", MAX.

Roskomnadzor took measures earlier in February to limit Telegram’s functionality in Russia, including throttling download speeds for Russians who try to connect to the app.

Reactions against the planned Telegram ban have come from a wide range of voices, including some government officials, as well as pro-war bloggers and Russian soldiers who use the app for communication on the frontlines in Ukraine.