Russia recognizes that it’s impossible to block Telegram messenger
RIA Novosti reports that Russian Internet ombudsman Dmitry Marinichev claims that blocking Telegram by adding IP addresses to the blacklist is impossible.
"Even considering that the client part of Telegram is open source. The code is open. It can be analyzed and how it works can be understood. Because Telegram is not a website, it's an application. It's almost impossible to close [such] a resource through IP addresses," he said.
According to Marinichev, "the block could last forever." He called the existing blocking mechanism ineffective and suggested combating the authors of illegal content rather than the service through which such content is distributed.
As the Internet ombudsman explained, Telegram will update its software and bypass any Roskomnadzor bans.
At the same time, he noted that getting to the black list of third-party services will force users to install programs to bypass locks.
On April 16, based on the decision of Moscow’s Tagansky court, Roskomnadzor (the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) began blocking the messenger application Telegram. The reason for blocking was the refusal of the messenger’s founder, Pavel Durov, to provide the FSB with the keys to decrypt user correspondence. A range of IP addresses of the hosting providers Google and Amazon were blocked by Roskomnadzor.