Telegram and blocking in the Russian Federation: why did officials suddenly change their attitude towards the messenger and is there any point in blocking it? Why the Telegram messenger can be blocked and what analogues it has

Federal service security and Roskomnadzor accused Telegram of unwillingness to comply Russian laws and aiding terrorism. If security services do not gain access to the correspondence of messenger users in the near future, it may be blocked. What are the reasons for such concerns and what applications can replace Telegram, read in our Questions and Answers section.

What's happened Telegram messenger?

Telegram is a program that allows you to write messages, send audio and video. In addition, it can host online conferences. To synchronize multiple devices, all sent data is saved in the cloud.

The main feature of the application is the encryption function. To prevent sent messages from being read strangers, they are encrypted and become inaccessible even to intelligence officers. This function is called " Secret chat", and it first appeared on Telegram.

How are Telegram and terrorists connected?

Back in early May 2017, information about possible closure Telegram messenger. Let us remind you that on at the moment It is the Yarovaya Law that obliges information dissemination organizers (IDIs) to provide encryption keys at the request of law enforcement agencies.

The founder of the messenger, Pavel Durov, said that he does not intend to comply with Roskomnadzor’s request and will not release data or encryption keys to third parties, including the government. According to him, this requirement violates the right to privacy of correspondence. In addition, according to Durov, it is technically impossible to comply with the authorities’ demands. But in early June, Durov announced the blocking of more than five thousand channels and groups associated with terrorism.

Roskomnadzor and the FSB, in turn, accused Telegram of unwillingness to comply with Russian laws and aiding terrorists. They are not satisfied with the fact that end-to-end encryption (the user’s keys are stored on his device) does not allow monitoring the correspondence of messenger users, and the creators of Telegram are not cooperative.

Will it be possible to use the messenger after blocking?

Roskomnadzor may require removal mobile applications Telegram from App Store And Google Play, but users will be able to install the application and download updates for it.

Blocking, of course, will complicate access to Telegram, but you won’t be able to turn it off completely. You can block access to the domain and website of the messenger and its web version. You can also block access to IP addresses, but this is not an effective method. Telegram will constantly change addresses and inform its users about these changes. By the way, many users have already received instructions on how to bypass the blocking.

Late in the evening of May 15, the news broke: Telegram guide received a notification from Roskomnadzor with a requirement to provide data to add the messenger to the register. If you ignore this requirement, the service will be blocked in Russia. Pavel Gorodnitsky explained why a ban on the messenger is extremely unlikely.

What's happening?

Three years ago in Federal law"About information, information technology and on the protection of information" made changes that oblige Roskomnadzor to maintain registers of information dissemination organizers, news aggregators and bloggers.

To make it more convenient to supplement the register, the RKN received the authority to request from individuals the information necessary to add a resource to the general list. The register itself is needed to bring to justice in case of violations in the field of information security - so that you immediately know who to attract.

Initially, the register was supposed to include any resource with an audience of more than 3 thousand people per day, but in practice this does not work: there are plenty of sites, communities, blogs and microblogs on the Internet that have a large audience, but are not registered with Roskomnadzor.

What does messengers have to do with it?

Messengers with their gigantic user base were only taken up this year - RKN itself sends a request to the company to provide information to be included in the register.

If the data is sent on time, then everything is in order. If not, then after a repeated request the resource can be blocked (that is, added to the list of prohibited sites).

Apparently, quite recently the first request came to the table of the management of the Telegram messenger. There was no public confirmation, but sources within the service admit that they indeed received a letter from Roskomnadzor.

However, Roskomnadzor itself calls reports of a possible blocking of Telegram rumors. Vadim Ampelonsky said that the department interacts with many services, but reports the results of this interaction only after the fact.

What specific data needs to be provided is unknown: we can only say with certainty that Telegram was asked for information on legal entity and owners of a legal entity.

Why is Telegram under threat of blocking?

The founder of the messenger, Pavel Durov, has long been known for not making compromises and not allowing anyone to violate the boundaries of his own freedom.

Considering that Durov said several times how Russian market is not important for Telegram, it is easy to assume that it will simply ignore the request from Roskomnadzor. Moreover, the administration of the messenger has already hastened to declare that it has never and will never transmit a single bit of information to anyone. However, such statements are regularly made by both Apple and Google, and the information is still transferred, for example, to the US authorities.

The opposite outcome (providing data) is practically excluded: for Durov, such a situation is equal to defeat. Consequently, Roskomnadzor will not receive a single letter from Telegram and will have every reason to block it.

How to save the messenger?

To prevent the ban from happening, a petition has already been written in Russia on Change.org. This petition is addressed to Pavel Durov - in fact, the owner of Telegram is being asked to disregard his pride and provide Roskomnadzor with the necessary information.

In less than 24 hours, the document on Change.org was virtually signed by more than three thousand people. This is neither more nor less, because petitions on this site have absolutely no power and are only suitable for demonstrating someone else's desires.

A typical example is last year’s petition to dissolve the Russian national football team: it was signed by a million people, but this story had no consequences.

Why won't a permanent ban actually happen?

The creator of the Combot service and one of the main Telegram experts in Russia, Fyodor Skuratov, estimated the probability of blocking at 20%, but his forecast even looks slightly overestimated.

The fact is that in Russia, in principle, it is difficult to block instant messengers.

Yes, the web version of Telegram can be added to the list of prohibited resources by registering the IP or domain name, but this technique will not work with applications. It is much more difficult to ban them, because the messenger has many login servers - if you want, you can really make sure that they change every day. There is no legal procedure with more advanced blocking (for example, packet analysis) in our country yet.

In addition, the decision to block will be political and very loud.

Firstly, in Russia, according to various estimates, Telegram has from 6 to 8 million users.

Secondly, it is no secret that officials and politicians at the federal level actively use the messenger.

Because of this, we can assume that there will be no long-term blocking: it is likely that Telegram will be disabled for a day, and then access will be opened again.

What to do if your favorite messenger is blocked for a long time?

If the ban drags on, it’s easy for everyone to bypass the blocking known methods: via VPN, Tor, Proxy and so on.

As practice shows (for example, the history of Rutreker), attendance after blocking does not fall as dramatically as it might seem in advance.

Most likely conversion ordinary users VPN users will be approximately 50%, that is, the number of Telegram users in Russia will decrease by half. Of course, this is a lot, but it is absolutely non-lethal for both the messenger and his fans.

A few days ago, Alexander Zharov (head of Roskomnadzor) turned to Pavel Durov (owner of Telegram) with a request to provide all the messenger data in order to add the application to state register information organizers. Pavel Durov, who had previously been unwilling to cooperate with the authorities, as expected, refused.

Reasons for possible blocking of Telegram

The Telegram messenger does not consent to the provision of data necessary for inclusion in the ROI. The Law “On Information Protection” states that after a warning from Roskomnadzor, Telegram is obliged to provide all its data within 5 days. If contact information is not provided within the appointed time, then there will be 15 days left, after which it will be closed.
In addition to the Telegram service, the registry does not include such international instant messengers as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, BlackBerry, IMO and Line. It is still unknown whether RKN contacted them or not. As Durov himself reports, the messenger's servers are located in many countries, so in order to obtain the requested data, any intelligence services will need to obtain cooperation from colleagues in other countries.

What is ROI?

The reason for the creation of the ROI in 2014 was the emergence of the “Law on Bloggers,” the wording of which raises many questions among experts, which is why many sites and servers were included in it. Thus, the law includes 82 domestic companies and an extensive list of foreign servers that have nothing to do with RuNet.

Why add Telegram to the registry?

Recently, all owners current messengers must move servers to the territory of the Russian Federation and store on them all information about users - their correspondence and conversations. In addition, companies are required to provide all information upon request. the above information to intelligence agencies. In addition state The Duma approved the law banning anonymous communication.

Who will be harmed by blocking Telegram?

In 2016, the number of Russian Telegram users increased 3 times and amounted to 6 million people. A large number of thematic channels have created a market where many people make money. Therefore, both ordinary users and owners of popular channels will suffer from blocking the Telegram messenger.

What is Telegram accused of?

Telegram has acquired a large number of channels and groups that serve as a platform for communication between various Islamic organizations. This was confirmed by the terrorist attacks in Paris. This is not the first time that Durov has been accused of refusing to work together with the intelligence services and help them in the fight against terrorism. Pavel said that the privacy of users is more important to him, and disclosing site data will not help prevent terrorist attacks, since terrorists can find other servers for communication. In addition to terrorists, many drug dealers sell drugs on Telegram and also launder large amounts of money.

Telegram's reaction to the RKN ultimatum

A few days before Zharov’s threat, the Telegram administration presented support for proxy servers. This means that if there is a possible blocking of Telegram in Russia, Android users will be able to continue using it as before. Only users of Apple devices will suffer, as the application will be removed from the Russian AppStore.

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Telegram is an excellent alternative to communicating on the Internet. The messenger is equipped with all the functions necessary for this, a stylish interface, excellent protection private data. However, there are situations when the subscriber does not respond in the chat, or you do not see him online. Such situations usually indicate that your phone number is blocked in Telegram.

How to determine if you are blocked

Unfortunately, the user is not notified that your number is blocked in Telegram. Why? This is the policy of a good half of instant messengers. Then how do you understand that you have been blocked on Telegram?

Indicative signs

What does a blocked user see in Telegram? What does blocking actually look like? There are several reference signs by which it is possible to understand the presence of a blockage. So, you should pay attention to:

• Avatar shown in chats and user profile. If the avatar is visible, then everything is in order. What does a blocked contact see in Telegram? He only sees the nickname. (Figure 1)
• Inscription about visiting the network. If the user’s profile contains the words “offline” or “last seen recently,” although he may have been online a couple of minutes ago or present moment is corresponding with someone, this is an indirect sign of your blocking. (Figure 2)
• SMS read notification. When you send a message, it will not reach the recipient. This is indicated by a check mark. In other words, this means that your message was delivered to the server or to the recipient, but he did not read it. Otherwise there should be two checkboxes. (Figure 3)

Still, how to understand that you are 100% blocked in Telegram is impossible. The above facts are only an indirect guide.

Exceptional moments

How to know for sure that you have been blocked in Telegram? For example, when you notice that a subscriber does not respond to your SMS, but the picture in his profile is visible. In order to dispel doubts, you can use this method: add a profile from another account and look at when the subscriber was online.

This will once again indicate to you that you are not blocked, but that the recipient simply does not want to answer you.

Reason for blocking

Sometimes Telegram users send complaints about unwanted messages from some account. In this case, application administrators apply restrictions or block until a certain time. As a result, from these accounts it is possible to send SMS only to mutual subscribers.

When your contact is not in the lists of the selected interlocutor, then when you try to send him an SMS, you will find a notification « Sorry, you can only send messages to mutual contactacts..." (i.e. notice that you can only send SMS to mutual users at this time").

But even very advanced devices, systems or algorithms sometimes make mistakes. And when you haven’t violated anything, but your Telegram account is blocked, what should you do? And what could be the reasons for this? Let's look at some of the possibilities:

• Usernames in the messenger are not a way to find new friends or interlocutors. Not everyone likes it when strangers text him. Therefore, admins react to incoming complaints by blocking them.
• Sending advertisements, as well as invitations to various groups or links to sites with a product catalog.

How to fix the situation

We figured out how to understand that you have been blocked on Telegram. Now let's see, if a user has blocked you in Telegram, then what to do. Is it possible to unblock yourself? How to write to the user who blocked me in Telegram? These questions naturally arise from the “injured party.”

Message to addressee

To write a message to a user who has blocked you, you can only create another account from which it will be sent. And then everything depends on the recipient’s desire to communicate with you in the future.

Message-question to admins

If you are sure that you did not do anything that is subject to restrictions, but you observe some kind of disorder in the application. How to determine what is blocked in Telegram? You have the opportunity to write to the admins, as well as the bot (@Spambot) and find out why this happened and when the blocking will end.