Russian regulator is investigating VPN services for bypassing Telegram blockade

The Russian telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor maps proxies and VPN services that make it possible to bypass the blockade of Telegram. The service appears to be considering taking action against such services.

Roskomnadzor is investigating VPN services proxies that can bypass the Telegram blockade and will make decisions based on the outcome, Russia’s TASS press service reported. It is not clear which decisions the service is considering, but Roskomnadzor points out that last week’s verdict, on the basis of which access must be made impossible, also applies to proxies and VPNs.

The Telegram blockade went into effect on Monday, after Roskomnadzor ordered providers in the country to cease access to the chat service. According to The Moscow Times, the watchdog has asked Google and Apple to remove Telegram from the Play Store and the App Store.

On Friday, the Moscow court ruled that Telegram should be blocked in Russia based on Roskomnadzor’s demand. The Russian telecom watchdog enforced this because the chat service refused to hand over its encryption keys to the intelligence service FSB.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov continues to oppose Russia’s demands: “Privacy is not for sale.” On Twitter calls he ‘signed’ it that authoritarian regimes want to block Telegram for encryption, but leave other services untouched.