Positive Effects and Consequences of the Telegram Ban

Good evening, dear subscribers! This is Pavluu. Right now, many channels are covering the Telegram ban in real time, and every day we read news about another Roskomnadzor (RKN) failure or Telegram’s progress. Ironically, this ban, which seemed like it would start and end in a single day, has actually brought about many positive effects. What are these effects, and what am I talking about?

Consequences for Russian Society

• Increased public knowledge. First and foremost, this refers to digital technologies and ways to improve personal privacy. Thanks to RKN’s actions and the general hype, most Telegram users, as well as ordinary people, learned about things like SOCKS/PROXY and VPNs. The number of VPN installations skyrocketed, and proxy sales soared in the first days of the ban. Many people also took the time to read about “end-to-end encryption” and “encryption keys,” and became familiar with modern privacy tools. Like it or not, this gave a push for ordinary people to get involved with modern technology. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone who learned about proxies because of the ban starts developing their own blockchain project or tinkers with a bank’s security system in a few years.
• Digital resistance. The “digital resistance” campaign launched by Durov deserves respect. It brought people together around a common idea—to stand up to RKN’s arbitrariness and fight for digital freedom. Some may laugh at the paper airplanes flying out of windows. Maybe it’s not effective, but it’s symbolic. If you feel free and want to stay that way, a paper airplane from your window represents that freedom. That matters too. Instead of shouting about freedom in the streets, the modern Russian routes Telegram traffic through Tor, sets up their own VPN, and uses the internet as they wish.
• Faith in the future. The Telegram ban is a high-profile event that could end in victory for those on the side of truth. Skeptics will say, “In our country?!” And I both agree and disagree. There’s too much hype, too many interested parties, and too many dissatisfied, affected people. Too much absurdity. This isn’t Zello, which was only used by truckers.

Consequences for Telegram

• Proved they don’t cooperate with unreasonable governments and intelligence agencies
• Significant increase in installations
• Increased trust in the messenger across all circles
• Attracted users from the US, Canada, and the EU
• Brilliant publicity ahead of the upcoming TON launch
• Attracted investors to their ICO
• Improved update systems (push notifications) and connectivity (distributed dynamic IP network)

Consequences for Pavel Durov

• Proved his principles, genius, and openness
• Delighted Russian users with his vision and actions. For Iran, aside from the ability to enter a proxy in the settings, nothing was done.
• Acted as a patron, promising material support to VPN and proxy providers. That’s the Russian soul for you. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up buying half of them.
• Proved to all ICO investors that their investments were justified

Consequences for RKN and FSB

• FSB: Demonstrated their incompetence and low level of expertise in IT and digital technologies. Their demands are not only unreasonable, but simply absurd. This shows they don’t know what they want—or at least pretend not to. They don’t understand how end-to-end encryption works, or at least act like they don’t.
• RKN: Proved their extreme lack of knowledge in digital technology and technological progress in general. The level of staff training is just rock bottom. It feels like people work there without the necessary education or knowledge, as evidenced by the results of their “work.”
• RKN: Brought a flood of lawsuits from those affected by the ban, and the concentration of hate and negativity is off the charts.
• RKN: Wasted a huge amount of the budget, harming everyone except Telegram. We paid for all their actions, and all the money, of course, went down the drain. Will they be held accountable? Definitely. Just maybe not publicly.
• RKN: Got a slap in the face from IT giants: Amazon, Google, Apple. Their refusal to cooperate shows that RKN can’t negotiate, makes unreasonable demands, and is basically unwanted by anyone.

All these events are major obstacles for Mr. Zharov. In reality, he’s cooked up a mess he can’t fix, but he’s going all the way. You can understand him—he has no other choice. His position is now just a matter of time, and he knows it.

Consequences for the Human Rights Organization “AGORA”

• Massive hype for the organization
• Massive hype for Pavel Chikov
• Significant increase in trust for the organization
• Significant influx of clients

That’s basically it. Much of what’s written here is obvious to the average Telegram user, but I still thought it was necessary to provide a brief summary for our audience.

Thank you for reading! I’m sure every subscriber is someone who cares about their own privacy and freedom. Stay that way and help others!

Pavluu