In Penza, city officials banned a protest against the blocking of Telegram
The Penza City Hall has banned a protest against the blocking of Telegram, which was scheduled for March 29 in the local Hyde Park. Activist Ivan Finogeyev reported that officials justified the ban by stating that an open rollerblading practice session would be taking place at the same time.
This is reported by Russian media.
Holding protests in Hyde Parks usually does not require approval from the authorities. Initially, the city government did not object to the rally that supporters of politician Boris Nadezhdin were trying to organize.
The anonymous movement “Red Swan,” which also planned protests against the blocking of Telegram, reported on March 26 that it had received permits for two rallies: in Penza on March 29 and in Vladimir on April 1.
Previously, the rally in Vladimir had been canceled due to an alleged risk of drone attacks. Thus, the rally in Penza’s Hyde Park became the last protest against the blocking of Telegram where the authorities did not grant permission to hold the event.
Earlier, Mikhail Oseevsky, head of the Russian company Rostelecom, reported an alleged sharp drop in traffic on the Telegram messenger.
As a reminder, Russianmilitary personnel have been banned from using Telegram for official purposes.
Recall whether it is possible to block Telegram in Ukraine and whether there is any point in doing so.
Telegram has also rolled out a major update with a range of new features for regular users and Premium subscribers.
