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Kremlin cautions against ‘dramatizing or deriding’ blocking problems in Telegram case

The Kremlin spokesman warned against overly dramatizing or deriding the problems the Russian telecom watchdog has encountered in blocking the instant messaging service Telegram

© EPA-EFE/MAURITZ ANTIN

ST. PETERSBURG, April 26. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned against over-dramatizing or deriding the problems the Russian telecommunications watchdog has encountered in blocking the cloud-based instant messaging service, Telegram.

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"Obviously, Roskomnadzor is enacting the court order, and it’s clear that technologically this order is difficult to implement, but the agency carries on steadily working. If there has been a delay due to technical problems, there is no reason to over dramatize or deride it," he told the media adding that his own resource was still working, but with interruptions.

Peskov stressed that the telecom watchdog was pushing ahead with its efforts and a large number of specialists was involved.

When asked about Kommersant’s speculations that the messenger’s blocking might incur up to $2-billion losses for private businesses, Peskov said he would like "to see the basis somebody has been using to calculate some losses and also the calculation methods."

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