You're reading: Washington Post: Russia takes heavy hand to internet to block messaging app

Russian authorities are freezing up vast swathes of the country’s online world in what critics call a heavy-handed — and so far unsuccessful — attempt to block a popular messaging app, Telegram.

The head of the communications watchdog acknowledged April 18 that millions of IP addresses unrelated to Telegram have been blocked since a court ordered last week that the app be taken offline.

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