Telegram Blocks Access To Campaign Bots During Elections In Russia

Telegram application blocks bots connected to Russian elections. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Telegram has reportedly temporarily blocked all chat bots of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny during the country's parliamentary elections, after Apple and Google removed election guidance apps from their stores.

As previously reported, Navalny's team is promoting Smart Voting as a way for voters opposed to President Vladimir Putin to identify the candidate who has the best chance of defeating a candidate from the pro-Kremlin ruling party, the United Russia Party, even if that alternative candidate is from one of the leading candidates. other.

The team then created a Smart Voting chat bot on Telegram, which became one of its main voting tools. However, Telegram CEO and Founder Pavel Durov said the platform would comply with the law prohibiting campaigning during elections, calling the law legal.

"We consider this practice legal, and we plan to limit the functionality of bots related to election campaigns," Durov said as quoted by Engadget, Monday, September 20.

Durov also said he followed Apple and Google, who dictate the rules of the game for developers like them, "Application blocking by Apple and Google creates a dangerous precedent that will affect free speech in Russia and around the world," he added.

Meanwhile, Durov stated that Telegram, like any other mobile app, relies on the ecosystem and support of Apple and Google to function. He said two tech giants this year have demanded that Telegram remove information to comply with laws in other countries

"US tech companies are threatening to exclude Telegram from the Google Play app catalog and the App store if it doesn't comply. Now, judging by the blocking of the Smart Voting app, this practice has spread to Russia," Durov explained.

"Apple and Google's policy changes will definitely affect Telegram, as they, as creators of the two major mobile operating systems, are at the top of the food distribution chain and can dictate the rules of the game for developers like us."

Russia under Vladimir Putin routinely cracks down on any political dissent, including actions against Navalny himself (such as attempted assassinations linked to Russian agents) and long-term attempts to overturn the broader Smart Voting application.

Officials have threatened Apple and Google with fines and have gone so far as to try and limit the internet infrastructure that provides access to Smart Voting. The decision underscores that tech companies like Telegram tend to run in Russia.

While they may object to the Putin regime's tight grip on politics and speech, they also cannot afford to antagonize the government if they want to own a market in the country. Telegram may object to Russian policies, but it risks depriving citizens of the relatively safe avenues of freedom of expression if it violates Russian law.