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.
The U.S. and Israeli air war against Iran widened on Monday, with no end in sight as Israel atta...
The Israeli military has begun a new wave of strikes on Tehran, it said late on Monday. The strikes came after it issued...
Iran and its proxies could target the U.S. with attacks in response to the Saturday killing of Iranian...
The U.S. embassy in Riyadh was hit by two drones resulting in a limited fire and some material damage...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the U.S. and Israel's war against&...
The U.S. and Israeli air war against Iran widened on Monday, with no end in sight as Israel attacked Lebanon in response to strikes by Hezbollah and Iran kept up its attacks on Gulf states that host U.S. military bases.
Iran and its proxies could target the U.S. with attacks in response to the Saturday killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei by Israeli and U.S. strikes, according to a U.S. intelligence assessment reviewed by Reuters.
The U.S. embassy in Riyadh was hit by two drones resulting in a limited fire and some material damage, the kingdom's defence ministry said in a post on X on Tuesday, citing an initial assessment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that the U.S. and Israel's war against Iran may take "some time" but it will not take years.
Follow the latest developments and global reaction after the U.S. and Israel launched “major combat operations” in Iran, prompting retaliation from Tehran.
Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant Saudi Aramco closed its Ras Tanura refinery on Monday following an Iranian drone strike, an industry source told Reuters as Tehran retaliated across the Gulf after a U.S.-Israeli attack on Iranian targets over the weekend.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
The Middle East crisis intensifies after the deadly attack on the compound of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei on Saturday that killed him, other family members and senior figures. Iran has launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. targets in the region.
Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has moved into a pivotal constitutional role following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, becoming the clerical member of Iran’s temporary leadership council under Article 111 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton told lawmakers that President Donald Trump told him he had "some great times" with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before their relationship soured, according to a video released on Monday (2 March).
The U.S.-Iran crisis has entered its third day, with further strikes reported across the Middle East and the death toll rising. Oil prices have surged to levels last seen during the Covid-19 pandemic, raising fears of economic disruption and higher prices worldwide.
The UK said it's allowing the U.S. to use its bases for defensive strikes against Iran amid escalating missile attacks, after a suspected drone strike hit a British airbase in southern Cyprus, causing limited damage.
The Kremlin is utilising the recent United States and Israeli military strikes on Iran to validate its ongoing war in Ukraine. Russian officials are pointing to the escalation in the Middle East as evidence that Western nations do not adhere to international rules.
European Union stands with its member states in the face of any threat, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in response to the drone strike that hit Britain's Royal Air Force base of Akrotiri in southern Cyprus overnight.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment