A few days after the landmark decision to block the traces of Telegram, the messenger is still functioning. Like many I have deliberately left the app "as is" on one of my devices and all this time apart from a few" moments " it continues to work.
Senseless steps of the public service responsible for the regulation of communications (Roskomnadzor) showed us the near future in Russia, the ideological fork, to which there is very little left. The dilemma of choice is no longer so vague, it is open technological development of the country or its isolation by the "Chinese" scenario.
Despite the fact that the Minister of communications of Russia has repeatedly commented on the "problems of interaction" with all the major "organizers of information distribution", began with Telegram. The founder's categorical position was the same "red rag", and if the Facebook copulation trial is yet to take place, it is difficult not to notice the political solution provided"at any cost" in the current war.
There Is also a threat of legal nihilism in the most active part of society, among those who "our future", who are trying to build a business without paying attention to the pessimistic views of the majority. After all, the question of the effectiveness of the locks came up more than once or twice, but Roskomnadzor did not draw conclusions even after the story with the lock popular in the protest actions online radio Zello.
It seems that they still had a share of the hope of repeating the script with Linkedin, which Microsoft gave silently and in Russia this service is now unavailable. Chase for Telegram showed all the risk of failure of this approach, when new IP-addresses appeared faster than the regulator had time to update the data in the registry. However, a trial of strength try to lock the mass service took place formally did everything according to the law (what is).
"Collateral losses" have already been recorded on Telegram account, because blocking hundreds of projects that have nothing to do with this" digital resistance " led not only to the reputation losses of the business, but also to realistically measurable losses.
Human rights activists reacted quickly and even the American civil liberties Union issued a call to technogigans Google, Amazon, Microsoft to help in resistance to censorship by the Russian authorities. But this is a business, and just like Google, which has already limited the possibilities of maneuvering, so others will not lose the market, to sacrifice part of the customers for Telegram. This means that any business that, one way or another, uses leased resources outside of Russia may have potential problems.
Under the veil of fighting the terrorist threat in Telegram — regulator managed to see, feel the reaction, determine the measures for the future. For me, this story is another manifestation of the deep crisis in public administration, the sensation of a mess, the loss of confidence in stability.
Hundreds of thousands of users, having established "options of bypass of locks", turned into solid group of "sofa protest" for freedom of information exchange. Supporters of different political views, and those who never thought of themselves in the "political coordinates", outraged and decided to circumvent the restrictions.
With each new initiative to strengthen control, the state's restrictive actions are perceived more and more as "personal", and the "digital resistance" itself takes quite real shape in society, which can become a fashion trend for the coming years.
Together with ordinary Telegram users, not only large companies, state corporations, but also officials themselves continue to openly use Telegram. You can explain it as much as you like "the need to monitor" the implementation of the law, but there is no "prohibition to use", the messenger will remain relevant for a long time.
These days Telegram is experiencing and a great level of PR, people who know little and have heard, receive a clear signal that it is a means of communication, uncontrolled, and it is worth trying in the care of the secret correspondence.
It is Sad that this whole theater of absurdity is covered by the objectives of the fight against the terrorist threat. Criminals have nowhere to discuss their plans now? Or will they only do it in" approved messengers " and collaborating social networks? Most likely, this is the beginning, the beginning of preparation for isolating the entire Russian segment of the global network, when the regulator will become the ruler of blocking data going to addresses outside the "trusted network".
In the meantime, if you can not fundamentally change the situation, you can find something positive in it. While "set up a proxy and VPN" for many sounded like a dirty word, now it has become the norm among tens of thousands of Russians.