Telegram deletes more than 256,000 prohibited pieces of material since 2021, no plans to block it

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Telegram deletes more than 256,000 prohibited pieces of material since 2021, no plans to block it - Roskomnadzor

MOSCOW. March 28 (Interfax) - Telegram has deleted more than 256,000 pieces of material prohibited in Russia since 2021, but the service has nevertheless been repeatedly subject to administrative liability for failure to delete such content, and fines have reached 68 million rubles, the press service for Russia's telecoms watchdog Roskomnadzor said.

"We confirm that there is currently no need to restrict the work of Telegram in Russia. The administration of Telegram has deleted more than 256,000 [pieces of] prohibited material at Roskomnadzor's demands since 2021," the press service said.

"Roskomnadzor urges the owners of messengers and social networks, including Telegram, to currently give special attention to their users' security and take extra measures that enable users to protect themselves against receiving provocations," the agency said.

At the same time, Roskomnadzor said Telegram has been repeatedly subject to administrative liability for failure to delete illegal information. "Nineteen protocols have been introduced against the company, [and] fines worth a total of 68 million rubles have been issued," it said.

The law on self-control of social networks (no. 530-FZ), which obligates Internet sites to promptly find and block prohibited information on their own initiative, has been in effect since February 2021. Roskomnadzor maintains a register of social networks to monitor observance of the law. It contains resources visited by 500,000 or more Russian users daily.

"According to MediaScope data, Telegram has an audience of some 85 million people. This Internet service is included in the register," it said.

Amendments to the Russian Code of Administrative Offences that envisage fines in the amount of up to eight million rubles for social networks for non-observance of the law on self-control were adopted in 2023. "A court issued Telegram five fines worth a total of 7.8 million rubles for violating this law," Roskomnadzor said.