Kadyrov defends Telegram from "Roskomnadzor"

The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has spoken against the blocking of the Telegram Messenger in Russia, pointing out that he uses it for personal and business purposes. It happened after the "Roskomnadzor" (Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) has filed a lawsuit seeking to restrict access to the Telegram in Russia.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in December 2017, Kadyrov was deprived of his social network accounts in the Facebook and Instagram – his pages were blocked soon after the US Treasury put the head of Chechnya on the "Magnitsky" sanctions list, calling him responsible for human rights violations in Chechnya. After that, Kadyrov and Chechen officials announced their switch to the social network named "Mylistory". Kadyrov's accounts on the Twitter and VKontakte, as well as his Telegram channel, remained open.

Kadyrov has noted that Telegram was "very convenient" for him, and spoke out against the blocking thereof even after his reference to the importance of following Russian laws.

"Everyone knows that I am an active Telegram user; I have not only my own channel, but also use this messenger in my work and on personal issues <…> I'm not in favour of blocking the Telegram, and I hope that the 'Roskomnadzor' leadership will find a compromise with the Telegram," Mr Kadyrov wrote in his Telegram.

The lawsuit of the "Roskomnadzor" demanding to block the Telegram Messenger in the entire territory of Russia was lodged to the Taganka Court of Moscow; it is dated April 6, 2018. The lawsuit was caused by the unwillingness of Pavel Durov, the creator of Telegram, to cooperate with the Russian authorities and provide the FSB with the encryption keys.