Russian deputy forecasts Telegram ban by autumn 2026
The Telegram messenger could be blocked in Russia by autumn 2026, a suggestion made by Mikhail Delyagin, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy.
«I expect Telegram to be closed down following the YouTube model, roughly by the elections (September 2026. — Ed. note). But part of the audience will remain anyway; we see this with Instagram*, where about half the audience has stayed,» he noted at a press conference by the National News Service.
The statement was quickly picked up by media outlets, which claimed that Telegram would definitely be blocked. In a conversation with MSK1.RU, the parliamentarian emphasized that his statement was «merely a hypothesis».
«It«s a hypothesis, not a fact. That gentlemen journalists have lost the ability to read but continue to write is not my problem,» Delyagin told MSK1.RU.
Another State Duma deputy also commented on the news about a potential Telegram ban in Russia. According to Alexey Volotskov, a member of the Committee on State Building and Legislation, the messenger«s fate depends on its owners complying with the demands of Russian authorities.
«If everything is transparent and there is an understanding that no illegal activities, such as drug sales, are taking place on the messenger«s platform, then they can continue to work peacefully,» Volotskov expressed his viewpoint in a conversation with MSK1.RU.
Recall that in January 2026, it became known that Roskomnadzor had introduced restrictions against Telegram. Rumors about this had circulated earlier when users complained about outages of the popular messenger. Many are convinced that Telegram will be the next after WhatsApp* platform to be blocked in Russia. In December 2025, Roskomnadzor began restricting WhatsApp in the country.
The situation is further heightened by the fact that since August 2025, calls in the WhatsApp* and Telegram messengers have become unavailable in Russia.
* — belongs to the organization Meta, recognized as an extremist organization, whose activities are prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation.
