Telegram ban Russia debate intensifies as blocked channels surge past 7.46 million

Russian regulators are escalating pressure on the popular messaging app even as the ongoing telegram ban russia discussion collides with surging channel takedowns and growing reliance on VPN tools.

Telegram steps up compliance under regulatory pressure

Russian lawmaker Andrey Svintsov said Telegram has begun more actively blocking illegal content and could still avoid a full block in Russia. However, he warned that the platform must continue accelerating cooperation with regulators in the coming weeks.

Svintsov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, told state news agency TASS that the messenger is now actively complying with Russian Federation requirements. He noted that over the past week alone, Telegram blocked more than 230,000 channels and pieces of content that violated current legislation.

According to Svintsov, this intensified moderation shows that Pavel Durov‘s company has “begun to interact more actively” with authorities. Moreover, he argued that Telegram has sufficient time to meet key conditions if it maintains the current pace of compliance.

April 1 deadline rumors and Roskomnadzor’s demands

Russian authorities throttled Telegram traffic earlier this month, citing non-compliance with national rules. Media reports then suggested the service could face a complete block on April 1, though officials have neither confirmed nor clearly denied this possible deadline.

Despite the speculation, Svintsov said he believes the platform can fulfill Roskomnadzor‘s requirements within one to two months and keep operating. “In my opinion, Telegram will not be blocked before April 1,” he stated, stressing that the final decision will depend on the company’s concrete actions.

Roskomnadzor, Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, acts as both telecom regulator and media watchdog. Its demands include opening a local legal entity, storing user data inside Russian territory, paying local taxes and systematically blocking prohibited content.

“Opening a legal entity takes a week at most. Moving personal data processing takes another two or three weeks,” Svintsov said. That said, the broader political context and previous disputes over data and censorship could still complicate the timeline.

Past tensions over Telegram’s Russian presence

Last summer, Russian media reported that Telegram was preparing to set up an office in Russia under the country’s so-called landing law. However, Durov either directly or indirectly denied those claims, according to earlier press reports, underscoring his longstanding resistance to deeper localization.

Those denials fueled doubts among policymakers about Telegram’s willingness to enter Russia’s legal field. Moreover, they now serve as background to the current standoff, as regulators again push for a registered local entity and domestic data storage.

Competing messengers, WhatsApp block and VPN surge

Yulia Dolgova, president of the Russian Association of Bloggers and Agencies, told TASS that it is still difficult to predict whether Telegram will ultimately be fully blocked. However, she highlighted a key difference with WhatsApp: Telegram is actively taking steps to keep its service functional under pressure.

Roskomnadzor recently removed WhatsApp’s Meta-owned domains from its DNS servers, effectively blocking the app in Russia. As a result, the messenger lost its previous position as the country’s top service by monthly active users.

Before the block, WhatsApp had 94.5 million monthly users in Russia, TASS reported. Telegram ranked second with 93.6 million users but is now a central focus of regulators, even as authorities promote the state-backed Max messenger as a preferred alternative.

Dolgova also emphasized widespread VPN adoption across the Russian internet audience as users seek to bypass social-media and messaging restrictions. Moreover, recent reports indicate that many citizens are turning to imo, a U.S.-made messaging app, as an additional workaround to connectivity limits.

Telegram blocked channels stats highlight scale of crackdown

Amid this regulatory squeeze, the platform has sharply increased its takedown activity. According to TASS, citing Telegram’s own website statistics, the administration blocked 238,800 channels and groups on February 15 and another 187,300 on February 16.

As of February 17, more than 7.463 million groups and channels have been blocked on Telegram since the beginning of the year, the agency reported. However, it remains unclear how much of this surge stems from Russian regulatory demands versus Telegram’s global content moderation policies.

The Telegram channel Baza, citing government sources, said Roskomnadzor is preparing to “begin a total blocking of the messenger” on April 1. In response, the regulator told media it had “nothing to add” to earlier statements that threatened only “sequential restrictions,” leaving markets and users guessing about the real risk level of a full telegram ban russia scenario.

Outlook for users, regulators and the messaging market

Telegram today stands at the center of Russia’s broader push to tighten control over digital communications, from foreign-owned messengers to social platforms. Moreover, the clash between regulatory demands and user behavior is reshaping how Russians access private and group chats.

If the company meets Roskomnadzor’s conditions in the coming one to two months, as Svintsov suggests, the app could preserve its vast local user base while operating under stricter rules. However, any move toward a full block would likely drive further Russia VPN usage and accelerate migration to services like imo messaging alternative and domestic apps such as max messenger russia.

For now, authorities, platforms and users are locked in an uneasy waiting game ahead of the rumored April 1 deadline. The final outcome will signal whether Russia opts for calibrated roscomnadzor telegram restrictions or pursues a more sweeping telegram russia ban similar to the earlier whatsapp blocked russia action.

In summary, Telegram’s future in Russia hinges on how quickly it aligns with Roskomnadzor’s conditions, while users increasingly hedge their risks through VPNs and alternative messaging platforms as the regulatory landscape tightens.