Police officers stand at the site of a planned protest of restrictions on Telegram after authorization for the rally was revoked due to a "potential emergency situation" in Perm, Russia, Sunday, March 15, 2026.
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Authorities in nearly a dozen regions across Russian have refused to authorize protests in recent weeks over internet censorship and the blocking of Telegram, a popular messaging app. In most cases, they succeeded. Mindful of a crackdown on dissent since the 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine, many activists decided not to risk arrest by attending unauthorized rallies, even if they weren’t about the war. Some went to court to challenge government refusals to authorize pickets, while others scaled them back to smaller indoor gatherings. But the discontent over blocking the app remains and adds to a growing list of frustrations over various issues that plague the country.
