Russia Blocked Telegram in 2025, Fueling Backlash Against Putin’s Internet Curbs
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jun 8
Russia Blocked Telegram in 2025, Fueling Backlash Against Putin’s Internet Curbs
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jun 8
Summary
Telegram’s 2025 blocking pushed Russian anger over internet controls into the open, widening criticism beyond liberals to pro-war users and soldiers who had relied on the app for messaging and news.
The crackdown is part of a longer Kremlin playbook: block major foreign platforms, then steer users to MAX, a state-backed messenger widely assumed to be accessible to the F.S.B.
Facebook and Instagram were blocked in 2022, YouTube in 2024, and Telegram most recently, leaving most big international social platforms either blocked or throttled in Russia.
Putin’s latest restrictions are colliding with broader wartime strain — including rising costs and a record Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow in mid-May — turning even loyalist circles against the policy.
The backlash now reaches state media and pro-war Telegram channels, where users have begun mocking the 73-year-old Putin as technologically out of touch.
Is Putin's digital iron curtain cracking his own pro-war support base?
Can the Kremlin win its multi-billion ruble war on VPNs and the global internet?
Is Russia's mandatory new app, MAX, the most powerful state surveillance tool ever created?
Russia’s 2025-2026 Internet Crackdown: 37,166 Hours of Blackouts, Telegram Disruptions, and the Battle for Digital Sovereignty
Overview
In 2025 and 2026, Russia dramatically escalated its control over the digital information space by implementing a comprehensive internet censorship system. What started as simple website blocking evolved into a sophisticated apparatus, using advanced technical infrastructure like Deep Packet Inspection and mass mobile internet shutdowns. These measures allowed the Kremlin to restrict access, influence online discourse, and enforce state-controlled messaging platforms. Driven by a strong determination to assert digital sovereignty, the government combined technical tools with increasing legal pressure, fundamentally changing how Russians access and experience the internet.