The history of Telegram Blocking and Public Reaction

In Moscow on April 13, 2018 the Tagansky court made a final decision to block the popular Telegram messenger, which refused to provide the keys necessary for opening access to the messages on FSB’s request. Decryption would help the FSB officers to read the messages whenever they need it. The main argument was fighting against a terrorist network using Telegram as a means of communication.

After the court’s verdict, on April 16, they started blocking access to the app for users located at the territory of the Russian Federation.

Contents:

1. Reaction to Telegram blocking.
2. Pavel Durov’s reaction. 
3. Users’ reaction.
4. International reaction.
5. True reason for blocking. 

In Moscow on April 13, 2018 the Tagansky court made a final decision to block the popular Telegram messenger, which refused to provide the keys necessary for opening access to the messages on FSB’s request. Decryption would help the FSB officers to read the messages whenever they need it. The main argument was fighting against a terrorist network using Telegram as a means of communication.

After the court’s verdict, on April 16, they started blocking access to the app for users located at the territory of the Russian Federation.

Reaction to Telegram blocking.

The decision of the court was a shocking news for the public, because in their opinion it limits their right to freedom of expression, and the request for giving out the keys was violating all the laws related to confidentiality of information and messaging. Immediately there were invented many ways of how Telegram comes over blocking. At the same time numerous interviews with famous people expressing their opinion on this issue were published.

Pavel Durov’s Reaction

Pavel Durov was the first to share his opinion being a Telegram’s creator. First of all, he expressed his sincere gratitude both to the public united against blocking and to the following companies:

1. Amazon. 

2. Microsoft. 

3. Google. 

4. Apple.  

Roskomnadzor asked these companies to block Telegram and not to provide their ip-addresses for working with the app. These corporations refused, and he was grateful for that.

Pavel Durov considered that just saying thank you was not enough and decided to help with his money to people developing ways of how to come over blocking at the territory of the Russian Federation.

Useful article: "How to Make Money in Telegram"

Users’ reaction.

Russian users strongly disagreed with the decision of the Tagansky court and in addition to the numerous pickets and protests, they organized a protest on April 20 which was unique for the Internet and that was attack the Google Maps service. Many people started simultaneously changing the name of the main office of Roskomnadzor to Roskompozor (RoskomShame) and at the same time they managed to change its working hours for ‘Closed forever’. New information has been added to the categories of this institution. Same day all the information was returned.

Additionally, users reduced the rating of the department to 1.2 stars, showered it with negative reviews and uploaded a lot of indecent photos. Almost all branches of Roskomnadzor were attacked the similar way.

One of the main reactions of users was development of methods that will help answering the question of how to get around Telegram block.

This reaction is not surprising, because for many Telegram has become not just a means of communication, but a place for starting their business, All-SMM could help you with that. This service helps quickly and with minimum investment to get members who work as an initial advertising and attract real customers.

International Reaction.

After the court’s decision, there was an immediate reaction from the OSCE, ‘Reporters Without Borders’, and even the UN with Rupert Colville speaking negatively about blocking the application in Russia. His main message was that the injunction contradicted to all the laws respecting freedom and human rights.

Also, the international media several times highlighted the fact that the decision to block Telegram was taken the next day after the law on restrictions for social networks appeared, which meant theoretically that the court was just a formality and the decision was made in advance.

True reason for blocking

There are several unofficial and official versions about what caused Telegram blocking. So according to the statement of RBC, others refer to some FSB officer, Pavel Durov wanted to launch the project of his own cryptocurrency release soon. This became known from his correspondence with the colleagues. The correspondence was later confirmed by federal officials and Telegram apps managers. This version is unofficial, but is considered to be true after confirming all the facts.

To summarize, the block has not affected the actual number of users of the platform, and its popularity is only growing due to this scandal, same as Durov’s authority. In fact, blocking has not solved anything neither for the losing party, nor for the network users. And if you want to boost up Telegram account, use the service ALL-SMM.