Russia Accuses Telegram of Failing to Curb Data-Selling Services Amid Ongoing Restrictions

Russia’s state media regulator has accused Telegram of failing to crack down on third-party services that gather and sell the personal data of Russians, the latest in a growing list of allegations that authorities in Moscow have leveled against the company as they ramp up restrictions against the messaging platform. Roskomnadzor claimed Friday that the popular app has created and “systematically maintains” digital infrastructure that allows users to “access stolen personal information” through third parties. “Telegram has deleted up to 100 of these services each week in 2026, but the situation does not fundamentally change as new bots for searching personal data continue to appear,” Roskomnadzor said. It said up to 8,400 such services have been removed since 2022. In a statement to the news outlet RBC, Roskomnadzor demanded that Telegram remove third-party services that gather and sell personal data of Russians and “stop providing them with the infrastructure” to commit crimes. Telegram has around 90 million users in Russia.