Updated on February 24, 2026. The head of Telegram stated that Russian authorities come up with new excuses every day to restrict citizens' access to the messaging app. Durov accused the Russian authorities of seeking to suppress the right to privacy and freedom of speech:
"Russia has opened a criminal case against me on charges of 'facilitating terrorism'. Every day, the authorities come up with new reasons to restrict Russians' access to Telegram, seeking to suppress the right to privacy and freedom of speech. A sad sight of a state that is afraid of its own people."
Pavel Durov is suspected of aiding terrorism—all because Telegram allegedly combats terrorism everywhere except in Russia.
Telegram could be officially designated as an accomplice to terrorists in Russia, if the messaging app's management does not comply with the security forces' demands in the next few months. With this forecast spoke Andrei Svintsov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, citing data from the FSB and the Ministry of Digital Development.
According to the lawmaker, the company’s management has “every chance” of becoming legally compliant in Russia by choosing the so-called “white side.” To do so, Telegram must comply with list of specific tasks: establish a legal entity within Russia; transfer the storage of personal data Russian users in the Russian Federation; provide correspondence and any information requested by the FSB to prevent crimes.
The basis for such harsh measures was information from the FSB stating that Telegram employees' inaction is linked to more than 150,000 crimes in Russia. Tens of thousands of these are related to terrorist threats, including recruitment, financing, and the management of terrorist cells through secret chat rooms. Maksut Shadayev, Minister of Digital Development, had previously reported on signs of extremist activity within the company.
If these demands are ignored, the FSB may propose to the government that the messaging app be designated as an accomplice to terrorists as early as the next 2–3 months.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that, according to media reports, the actions of the platform's founder himself Pavel Durov is already under investigation as part of a criminal case on aiding terrorist activities. As Svintsov noted, it is “impossible” to continue to tolerate the current state of affairs.
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