Russian Government Asked to Investigate Aftermath of Telegram Ban

• A report was presented by Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev, Vladimir Putin has been requested to investigate the impact of the Telegram ban.
• Millions of Russian citizens are currently facing IP bans blocks due to the decision by Russian telecom watchdog Roscomnadzor to ban the social messaging app.
• The Book of Complaints and Suggestions of Russian Business’ has requested the Prosecutor General’s Office to launch an investigation to analyze the ban.

With Telegram being banned last month on Russian telecom watchdog Roscomnadzor’s instructions, millions of IP addresses of innocent people have been banned by ISPs and telecoms. In a report that was presented today by Internet Ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia has been requested to look into the impact on citizens because of the Telegram ban.

The report was presented to Russian president Vladimir Putin today so a damage assessment can be made. The ban was carried by multiple ISPs across the country, and despite attempts by VPNs to keep Telegram up for millions of Russian users, large-scale IP bans have made things difficult. Millions of innocent users who had Amazon or Google-owned IPs are now unable to access the internet seamlessly.

Image Courtesy of Vestnikkavkaza

The IP bans have not only led to Telegram being non-functional for users, websites that are not related to the social messaging app have also become inaccessible. The report filed to the Russian government is part of the ‘The Book of Complaints and Suggestions of Russian Business’, which serves as a guidance report and includes analysis for court decisions.

According to the report, the ban was carried out without foreseeing the possible consequences that the ban could have on over 15 million citizens of Russia. Multiple resources have become inaccessible including Russian enterprise websites, bank websites and even government platforms on the internet which have nothing to do with Telegram.

The legal nature and validity of the Roskomnadzor’s actions have been questioned by the report. Telegram is not the only service that has been targeted by Roskomnadzor. Over 80 VPNs have been blocked as well as multiple streaming platforms and torrent websites. The Russian government is expected to offer a reply to the report in the coming weeks.