This blog is reserved for more serious things, and ordinarily I wouldn’t spend time on questions like the above. But much as I’d like to spend my time writing about exciting topics, som…
It was “blocked” for 2 years, though there was a problem accessing it for only a month or so as Telegram developers implemented ways to avoid the ban. In 2 years the government officials decided that Telegram made enough effort to block extremist materials to remove themselves from the embarrassment. Now they probably think “why didn’t we trick Durov to visit us and just arrest him like France did”.
I am fairly convinced that it was either theater from the beginning, or some agreement was reached before it was “unblocked”. RKN doesn’t care about “embarrassment” or collateral damage if they want to do something.
It was “blocked” for 2 years, though there was a problem accessing it for only a month or so as Telegram developers implemented ways to avoid the ban. In 2 years the government officials decided that Telegram made enough effort to block extremist materials to remove themselves from the embarrassment. Now they probably think “why didn’t we trick Durov to visit us and just arrest him like France did”.
I am fairly convinced that it was either theater from the beginning, or some agreement was reached before it was “unblocked”. RKN doesn’t care about “embarrassment” or collateral damage if they want to do something.
I don’t see any agreement possible just because Russia had literally nothing to offer to Telegram.
Telegram is VERY popular there. What it has to offer are users who would see ads and pay for the subscription.