Russian bloggers who run large channels on Telegram are now required to transfer their rights to a bot operated by Russia's Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor). This requirement applies to channels with more than 10,000 subscribers.

Source: Meduza, a Latvia-based Russian media outlet

Details: Mandatory registration for Telegram channel administrators has been in effect since 1 November 2024, and from the start of 2025, government officials began demanding that social media platforms block any pages not registered with Roskomnadzor.

According to Roskomnadzor, channel owners must run a designated Telegram bot and add the watchdog as an administrator to register and obtain an "A+" rating. The procedure is compulsory.

"This is the only way for Telegram to confirm that you own the channel being registered. After launching the bot, the registration number received from Gosuslugi is verified against the one entered into the bot. There is no other procedure for confirming ownership of a channel on this social network," Roskomnadzor said in a statement. [Gosuslugi is a Russian government-run digital platform providing online access to state and municipal services - ed.]