Russia’s crackdown on Telegram-related protests has spread from Moscow to cities across Siberia and Russia’s far east, with authorities in nearly a dozen regions citing shifting rationales to keep demonstrators from gathering or staging actions against internet censorship, according to the Associated Press. Activists and politicians say the friction goes beyond any single political cause, reflecting frustration with tightening controls that have also narrowed other routes to public dissent since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Telegram dispute has also drawn supporters and critics across the political spectrum, AP reported. Authorities’ efforts to limit the messaging app have met resistance that ranges from attempts to hold pickets to banner displays and, in some cases, court challenges to refusals of protest authorization.
In Primorye in Russia’s far east, Alexander Sustov said authorities blocking a pro-Telegram rally did not end the underlying anger. “Clearly the situation has changed, the laws have become stricter, but the protest hasn’t gone anywhere,” Sustov said, adding, “Discontent remains. And any ban only fuels that discontent.”
Authorities’ stated reasons for preventing Telegram demonstrations have varied by location, AP said, including claims tied to local administrative issues or safety concerns. In Novosibirsk, Roman Malozyomov said organizers arrived for a planned pro-Telegram gathering to find the site marked off with tape for a purported “tree inspection,” and he said participants were detained even though the authorization was not required for the protest at that square.
Malozyomov told AP that authorities detained Malozyomov, other activists, journalists, and some passersby, but they were released after a few hours. He said he then returned to Lenin Square for a one-man picket, holding a sign with the Roskomnadzor logo crossed out as he advocated staying connected.
Beyond Siberia, actions aimed at Roskomnadzor have also met punishment. AP reported that members of Other Russia blocked the entrance to the Moscow office of Roskomnadzor and state media using a bicycle cable and displayed a banner calling for “an internet without supervision, (and) Russia without Roskom-disgrace.” The group later displayed a banner at the agency’s St. Petersburg office urging “Roskomnadzor, ban this banner,” and AP said all of those activists were arrested, with the Moscow activists facing criminal charges.
Not all Telegram-related activity has been met with uniform rejection. In Russia’s Altai region, AP reported, Communist Party branches that generally support the Kremlin were turned down after local officials said claims of an internet clampdown were “at odds with reality.” In parts of northern Russia, Communist Party activists held pickets with signs including “It is not up to officials to decide what we read,” and “The internet is not a prison,” AP said, while in Krasnodar a rally later in March was authorized on the outskirts of the city.
AP reported that other demonstrations faced last-minute barriers even when organizers had obtained permits. In Perm, organizers secured authorization for a March 15 demonstration but were told two hours before it began that a “potential emergency situation” made the rally site unsuitable. AP said a participant, Viktor Gilin, 80, still attended and unfurled a banner demanding “Vladimir Putin! I demand that you bring back freedom of thought and speech — the internet!” before being detained and fined.
The Telegram restrictions form part of a wider push to place Russia’s internet under government control, according to AP. The reporting said thousands of websites and platforms have been blocked, as well as multiple virtual private networks used to bypass censorship, and that widespread cellphone internet shutdowns leave only a limited set of government-approved websites available.
Telegram’s popularity among Russians has made it a particular target, AP reported, saying the app trails only WhatsApp in usage. AP also reported that Russian authorities encourage users to switch to MAX, a messaging app backed by the government, which critics say functions as a surveillance tool. Military bloggers and pro-Kremlin commentators have criticized the move against Telegram, AP said, arguing it is vital for communication by troops in Ukraine and by activists running crowdfunding campaigns.
AP also described how Russian officials have signaled the policy direction toward Telegram and other communications during wartime. It reported that at an International Women’s Day meeting with President Vladimir Putin, a servicewoman described Telegram as “an adversarial communications tool,” and agreed with Putin when he said that “the use of communications systems that are not ours, not under our control, poses a danger to personnel” in battle.
While some protesters have attempted to keep pressure through demonstrations on a range of issues, AP reported that large anti-war protests have been rare since anti-war demonstrations were brutally suppressed in 2022. The reporting said political prosecutions have risen and laws restricting dissent have multiplied, making demonstrators more cautious about unauthorized rallies even when they are not directly about the war.
Still, some activists have sought legal avenues. AP reported that Konstantin Larionov in Kaluga, along with 41 other people, filed a lawsuit against Roskomnadzor and other officials last year, arguing that restrictions on Telegram and WhatsApp violate free speech and privacy rights. AP said the number of plaintiffs grew to 105, but the court ruled for the authorities; Larionov appealed and lost while planning to take the case to Russia’s Supreme Court, and he said he believes it remains important to keep trying despite shrinking options for protest.
AP quoted analyst Abbas Gallyamov as saying that Telegram protests are more about signaling popular discontent than “fighting the regime.” But Gallyamov also argued that the Telegram protests represent “another crack in the foundation” of Putin’s rule, according to AP.