Putin’s Crackdown on Telegram Slammed by Russian Propagandists

Some of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most vocal fans are up in arms over the Kremlin’s latest move to restrict the Telegram messaging service and push people to use a new state-backed alternative.

Last week, millions of users of Telegram in Russia experienced slowdowns and outages of the messenger after the communications regulator Roskomnadzor imposed new restrictions on the service. The pressure is the latest move in a long-running campaign to promote what the Kremlin calls sovereign internet that’s led to blocks of YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp.