Expert names probable reason for blocking Izvestia's Telegram channel in the EU
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The blocking of Izvestiya's Telegram channel in a number of EU countries is related to Brussels' long-standing plans to isolate citizens from the most active Russian media, Grigory Pashchenko, head of the CyberMoscow project, told Izvestia on December 28.
The expert noted that the technical restrictions affected owners of European SIM cards. According to his assessment, blocking traffic is not something difficult in modern realities.
"All this works in conjunction between the technical devices that are at the European providers and directly with the representatives of this messenger themselves," said Paschenko.
He expressed the opinion that European countries block Russian publications so that their citizens do not receive "people-competent news."
In turn, information security expert Alexander Vlasov suggested that next the EU will start blocking any Russian Telegram channels. He also pointed out that it was impossible to impose restrictions without the participation of the messenger's management.
The blocking of the Telegram channel IZ.RU in a number of European countries became known earlier in the day. Its content was inaccessible in Spain, Germany and Sweden if a foreign SIM card was used.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to the lack of freedom of speech in Western countries back in late November. He noted that it used to be hard to believe that even respected publications in the West would publish a large number of fakes and customized materials.
Russian media in recent years have often been subjected to various bans in Western countries, including the EU. Thus, in late June, Brussels approved a ban on access to Izvestiya and several other publications, which became known in May. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the measure a sweep of information space.