Russian officials say Telegram ignored content removal requests but won't be blocked yet

Russian officials say the Telegram messaging app has ignored about 150,000 requests to remove content that is banned in Russia. The head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, stated this.

Despite this, Shadayev and other officials clarified that there are no immediate plans to restrict or block Telegram's work in Russia, including in the zone of the 'special military operation'. The State Duma also said it does not plan to label Telegram as extremist or ban it. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a full-scale blocking of the app is not currently being discussed.