Russians are standing in line for hours at Putin's reception office to complain about the blocking of Telegram
Muscovites are waiting in line for hours outside President Vladimir Putin’s office to complain about the blocking of Telegram and WhatsApp.
This is reported by local Telegram channels.
According to one of the complainants, the wait is about an hour and a half because only one window is open instead of ten. Some cannot bear the wait and leave to file a complaint online.
The area has been partially cordoned off, with security forces and employees of Center “E”—a Ministry of Internal Affairs unit combating extremism—on duty at the site.
“We insist on the lifting of mobile internet blocks and restrictions on access to the popular messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp. The scale of restrictions on access to services and websites is already beginning to resemble a natural disaster. We consider this a direct violation of Articles 23 and 29 of the Russian Constitution and urge everyone to join our petition to defend our rights to the free exchange of information,” reads the statement, which every Russian is invited to sign.
As a reminder, on April 3, the level of anomalies during the Telegram outage in the morning reached 80%, according to data from the international research project OONI.
Recently, the Penza city administration banned a protest against the blocking of Telegram, scheduled for March 29 in the local Hyde Park. Activist Ivan Finogeyev reported that officials justified the refusal by stating that an open rollerblading training session would be taking place at the venue at the same time.
Earlier, Mikhail Oseevsky, head of the Russian company Rostelecom, claimed there had been a sharp drop in traffic on the Telegram messenger.
