Rostelecom commented on messages about blocking calls in messengers

Rostelecom is not aware of the initiative to block calls in foreign messengers. Mikhail Oseevsky, President of Rostelecom, told reporters on August 12.

Earlier, the Russian magazine Forbes, citing a source, reported that the "big four" telecom operators (MTS, MegaFon, Beeline and Tele2) allegedly asked to block calls in foreign messengers. At the same time, according to another interlocutor of the publication, banks expressed support for the initiative to block calls from unknown numbers in messengers.

"We don't know anything about such an initiative," Oseevsky said in response to a question.

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On July 28, Roskomnadzor, amid rumors about the blocking of WhatsApp (part of Meta, the organization is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation), urged to trust only official data. The ministry noted that information about the blockages is brought to the public's attention only through official channels.

On July 3, Sergei Boyarsky, head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications, noted that there are no prerequisites for blocking Telegram in Russia. The parliamentarian drew attention to the fact that foreign messengers that continue to operate in the Russian Federation fulfill some of the requirements regarding data localization and cooperation in removing prohibited content.

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