Russia has begun slowing down the Telegram messaging application, with Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal communications regulator, set to implement partial restrictions from 10 February, following a wave of fines and administrative cases accusing the platform of hosting illegal content.
The Moscow Tagansky Court has registered eight administrative protocols against Telegram.
Seven relate to the platform’s failure to remove prohibited content, including what the court documents described as "extremist material" and explicit content. Another protocol concerns repeated failure to monitor and limit access to illegal content.
Each violation could incur a fine of 3-8 million Russian rubles, bringing the total potential penalties to 64 million rubles, around 830,000 USD.
Two protocols are scheduled for hearing on 11 February, with other cases set for February-March.
According to sources cited by RBC, Roskomnadzor also intends to gradually restrict Telegram’s functionality. “The work of Telegram has already begun to be limited,” one source said.
Users have complained of issues uploading media and sending messages, though VPN use appears to bypass these problems. Various error monitoring websites reported over 10,000 problem notifications from users across Russia in the past 24 hours.
Roskomnadzor previously restricted calls on Telegram and WhatsApp in August 2025, citing concerns that scammers and terrorists were using the apps to defraud or recruit Russian nationals.
In October 2025, the regulator introduced partial limitations on the services “to combat criminal activity.”
Telegram was previously blocked in 2018 after the company refused to provide encryption keys to Russia’s FSB security service but was unblocked two years later.
Telegram, one of the world’s largest messaging platforms, claims around 950 million monthly active users, according to founder Pavel Durov.
It is used by a wide range of newsmakers, including the Kremlin, courts, media outlets, celebrities, and exiled opposition, to share information instantly with a large audience. The app is also widely used in Russia and Ukraine, and by pro-democracy groups in Iran and Hong Kong.
The platform offers optional end-to-end encryption, meaning messages can only be read on the sender’s and receiver’s devices, though this is not the default setting.
Last year, the Russian government launched a state-backed rival app called MAX, which critics say could be used for surveillance, though state media have dismissed these claims as false.
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U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has met President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in Baku as part of a regional visit aimed at strengthening cooperation on energy, security and regional stability.
A scheduled visit to Ankara this week by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will seek to “resolve all our problems at the table,” Ömer Çelik, a spokesman for Türkiye’s ruling AK Party, has said.
The European Union is preparing a further expansion of its sanctions against Russia, with Central Asia emerging for the first time as a distinct point of focus.
A landmark trial accusing major social media companies of harming children through addictive platform design has begun in Los Angeles, marking one of the most significant legal challenges facing the technology industry to date.
U.S. President Donald Trump has criticised American freestyle skier Hunter Hess after the athlete said he felt conflicted about representing the United States at the Winter Olympics in Italy, sparking a public clash that highlights growing political tensions surrounding the Games.
U.S. skiing great Lindsey Vonn underwent surgery in an Italian hospital on Sunday after her attempt to win Olympic downhill gold ended in a violent crash just seconds into the race at the Milano Cortina Winter Games.
JD Vance arrived in Armenia on Monday (9 February), becoming the first sitting U.S. Vice President to visit the country, as Yerevan and Washington agreed to cooperate in the civil nuclear sector in a bid to deepen engagement in the South Caucasus.
The death toll from the collapse of two residential buildings in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has risen to 15, state media said on Monday, as rescue teams wrapped up search operations and officials warned that more people could still be missing.
António José Seguro’s decisive victory over far-right challenger André Ventura marks an historic moment in Portuguese politics, but analysts caution that the result does not amount to a rejection of populism.
A landmark trial accusing major social media companies of harming children through addictive platform design has begun in Los Angeles, marking one of the most significant legal challenges facing the technology industry to date.
Europe heads into the Munich Security Conference, 13 February, amid deepening unease over U.S. policy, as President Donald Trump’s hard-line stance on defence, trade and territory fuels doubts about Washington’s long-term commitment to transatlantic security.
Cuban aviation authorities have warned airlines of jet fuel shortages at nine airports, including Havana’s José Martí International Airport, from 10 February to 11 March, as a worsening energy crisis, intensified by U.S. sanctions, hits the country.
The European Union has proposed extending its sanctions against Russia to include ports in Georgia and Indonesia that handle Russian oil, the first time the bloc would target ports in third countries, a proposal document showed on Monday.
China will offer firm support for "patriotic pro-reunification forces" in Taiwan and strike hard against "separatists", the top Chinese official in charge of policy towards the democratically-governed island said on Tuesday (10 February).
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