"Those who slow down Telegram are scoundrels!" A large photograph of Sergei Mironov was brought to the Roskomnadzor building in Irkutsk.

"Cardboard" Mironov with a quote about Telegram brought local activist Denis Bukalov. He emphasized that slowing down the messenger is not a matter of "sovereignty" or "security," but a voluntary withdrawal from global competition.

“YouTube is blocked, Instagram is banned, there is no global platform of our own,” Bukalov stated. MAX will never become a global platform. Because what becomes global isn't what's designated, but what wins the competition. When you disconnect yourself from the global communications infrastructure, you automatically render your country completely uncompetitive in the new world." 

Last week, a State Duma deputy Sergey Mironov call Those who slow down Telegram are "idiots" and "scoundrels." He says it's the only messenger through which SVO members on the front lines communicate with their relatives.

The protest against Telegram's slowdown in Irkutsk isn't the only one. On February 15, passed collective picket in Penza with the participation of about 20 people.