The head of the State Duma Committee on information policy, Sergei Boyarsky, emphasized: Russian authorities impose restrictions on news reporters due to non-compliance with requests and not because of a desire to cause harm.
Sergei Boyarsky said in an interview that the restrictions on WhatsApp (owned by Meta*, considered extremist and banned in Russia) and Telegram are being introduced for violating Russian law, not because of harm radio station “Komsomolskaya Pravda”.
He emphasized that no one intentionally turned off or slowed down the work of the messenger, however, according to him, companies are obliged to comply with the country's laws, open offices in Russia and cooperate with the authorities in the fight against fraud.
“Neither WhatsApp nor Telegram responded to this. So in August 2025, it was decided to reduce the quality of their voice calls,” Boyarsky explains.
He explained that Telegram is not completely blocked because the messaging app operates as a large social network where Russian citizens and media operate their channels. The lawmaker said the investment efforts of users and the media are also taken into account when formulating policies for the platform.
Telegram under the yoke of “slowing down”: Will Durov open an office in Moscow
Russian government start to limit Telegram activity due to non-compliance with crime prevention requirements.
Roskomnadzor statedthat there are no additional restrictions on Telegram in Russia yet is introduced.
At the State Duma notedthat Telegram's slowdown was due to the messenger's slow response to requests to block anonymous channels.
Roskomnadzor before that refused to take it off Restrictions on WhatsApp.
