Kuban deputy Safronov announced a rally against the blocking of Telegram.
Krasnodar City Duma Deputy Alexander Safronov has coordinated a protest against Roskomnadzor's blocking of internet services with local authorities.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot," an administrative protocol was filed against Evgeny Makovoz, the organizer of a rally in Rostov-on-Don against internet blocking, for petty hooliganism and disobedience to a government official.
A rally against the blocking of Telegram and slowdowns of other internet services has been announced for March 28 in Krasnodar. The protest is planned for Klenovy Park. "We say no to censorship. We say we need freedom of speech. We are against blocking and slowdowns. We demand that Roskomnadzor respect the Russian Constitution and our rights. We demand that the government not violate our rights and leave Telegram alone," reads a post today on Safronov's Telegram channel.
The site on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by fields, was the only one approved by the Krasnodar mayor's office. Organizers tried to agree on a location closer to the center - Chistyakovskaya Grove or the 30th Anniversary of Victory Park on the backwater. However, according to officials, these areas were occupied by other public events, notes the BFM publication.
As a reminder, during mobile internet outages, websites and apps with permitted access do not work everywhere, which, given the problems with mobile communications, leads to Residents of southern Russia reported significant problems.
Telegram was often used for work contacts, and existing restrictions caused difficulties in work, and available methods for bypassing restrictions do not always help, said residents of the Rostov and Volgograd regions, Kuban, and Kalmykia. Some of them expressed a willingness to switch to domestic messengers, while others said they would continue to use Telegram.
In October 2025, authors of Telegram channels in the North Caucasus and Southern Federal Districts faced a decrease in readership, difficulties posting publications, and reader complaints about problems accessing Telegram. Roskomnadzor confirmed that the disruptions were due to government actions. The operation of these messengers is being restricted "to counter "criminals" using them to extort money and involve Russians "in sabotage and terrorist activities," the agency explained. The active slowdown of Telegram in recent days has created serious inconvenience for users of the messenger in the republics of the North Caucasus. People have lost an accessible way to communicate with relatives, and entrepreneurs have lost established connections with clients and are suffering losses.