Pres spox: Court mutes Telegram, but Russians use it

MOSCOW, Apr 23 (PRIME) -- Messenger Telegram is blocked in Russia by court, but de facto it is used, the president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

A Just Russia political party’s deputies Dmitry Ionin and Fedot Tumusov drafted a bill to stop blocking Telegram during high alert regimes or emergencies as a government information resource. They said the messenger has started fulfilling a socially important function as it is used by the government to inform Russians of the coronavirus situation.

“I’ll abstain from any assessment. It is true that there is a situation de jure and de facto. We must do it de jure. There is a relevant court decision, on which blocking is based. But you’re right and the de facto situation is different. I won’t comment on the matter,” Peskov said.

The communications service has been muting Telegram since April 2018 because the messenger refused to share the decoding keys with the Federal Security Service. The messenger is still available to users.

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