Deputies Forecast Telegram Blocking Ahead of Elections

Discussions about a possible blocking of the Telegram messenger continue in the State Duma. On January 27, deputy from A Just Russia Mikhail Delyagin expressed his personal opinion that he expects the platform to be shut down ahead of the upcoming elections, i.e., by September 2026.

The discussions are taking place against the backdrop of existing restrictions. Since August 2025, calls via Telegram have been jammed in Russia, and during local mobile internet shutdowns, the messenger stops working because it is not included in the «white list» of permitted services. Recently, users have also been experiencing problems when loading large video files.

Residents of St. Petersburg, for example, complained about mobile internet shutdowns on January 26 and 27. Meanwhile, the State Duma on January 27 unanimously approved in the first reading a bill obliging communication operators to disconnect all types of communication upon requests from the FSB.

Delyagin«s Forecast: Blocking Ahead of Elections

«I expect Telegram to be closed following the YouTube pattern around the elections. But part of the audience will remain anyway, as we see with Instagram*, where about half of the audience stayed. The messenger MAX, which everyone dislikes so much, is developing and will become an important habitat for business,» Delyagin stated in an interview with National News Service.

Later, he clarified that this is his personal assumption, not insider information. Delyagin also noted that Telegram has become «the nervous system not only of society but also of the front,» and expressed confidence that attempts to restrict the platform will continue.

Boyarsky«s Position: Compliance with Laws

Head of the Committee on Information Policy Sergey Boyarsky refused to comment on his colleagues« statements, calling speculations about blocking meaningless. Earlier, he explained that measures against Telegram and WhatsApp* are taken not out of malice, but due to these services» refusal to comply with Russian laws, such as opening an office in Russia and cooperating in the fight against fraudsters.

Boyarsky also stated that the option of having only one messenger, MAX, is not being considered, and expressed hope that channel owners will gradually move to the Russian analogue.

Campaign for Opening a Telegram Office

Deputies from the New People party have launched a campaign, calling on Russians to sign appeals against blocking Telegram and for opening a representative office of the messenger in Russia. Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Vladislav Davankov stated that he respects Pavel Durov and hopes for a similarity of values in the area of freedom of speech.

She was joined by the head of the party«s St. Petersburg branch Ksenia Goryacheva, who warned that Telegram is already under attack and called for action before final decisions are made. Deputy Sardana Avksentieva also spoke in support of the messenger, calling it a working tool.

Advertising in Telegram

Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Information Policy Anton Gorelkin noted that Telegram complies quite well with Russian advertising legislation, for example, supporting the law on marking internet advertising. Therefore, according to him, there are no ideas to ban advertising on the platform in the State Duma.

At the same time, Gorelkin expressed support for the Russian messenger MAX, pointing out that it already has over 150,000 channels and continues to develop.

Demands to Combat Anonymity

Deputy Chairman of the Committee from the LDPR Andrey Svinntsov explained the «partial blocking» of Telegram by the need to combat anonymous channels, which, according to him, spread false information. He called on the messenger to pay more attention to interaction with Russian authorities and to abandon user anonymity.

«I believe that we should become the first country in the world to completely abandon anonymity on the Internet,» Svinntsov stated.

Accusations of Use for Terrorism

Senator Artem Sheikin stated that restrictive measures against Telegram are related to the service«s refusal to cooperate in preventing crimes. According to him, the messenger is used to organize terrorist acts and fraud on the territory of Russia, and he called on users to switch to domestic services.

Position of Roskomnadzor

Head of Roskomnadzor Andrey Lipov reported that since the beginning of the year, over 210,600 materials with illegal content have been removed from Telegram, but more than 155,800 dangerous publications remain accessible. This concerns content related to drugs, LGBT**, extremism, terrorism, and child pornography.

Lipov also noted the effectiveness of blocking calls via Telegram, but pointed out that fraudsters are now using Russian SIM cards in roaming. The agency has not announced plans for a complete blocking of the messenger.

* Instagram and WhatsApp are products of Meta Platforms Inc., recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.

** The LGBT movement is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.