Andrei Svintsov, deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma committee on information policy, who urged Russians not to buy paid Telegram subscriptions, has been found to be a Telegram Premium user himself. The revelation was made by the independent outlet Verstka.
Earlier, Svintsov told RTVI that he does not recommend “any new paid subscriptions, any purchases of TON cryptocurrency, and so on” due to potential risks. “Those premium accounts that were paid for a long time ago, there is nothing illegal about them, you can use them,” he said.
As Verstka discovered, Svintsov actively uses the messenger: his account has published more than 1,030 stories. In addition to the deputy, the head of Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor, Andrei Lipov, and the minister of digital development, Maksut Shadayev, have also taken out premium subscriptions.
Svintsov explained his recommendation by citing a possible change in Telegram's legal status following charges brought by the Federal Security Service (FSB) against the messenger's founder, Pavel Durov. On the morning of July 29, the FSB's public relations center reported that Durov had been charged with aiding terrorist activities and that the businessman had been placed on an international wanted list.
State Duma deputy Andrei Kolesnik did not rule out that Telegram could be designated a terrorist resource. “Through Telegram, Ukrainian special services recruit both adults and children,” he said. If the messenger is recognized as a terrorist organization, purchasing paid features could be considered financing terrorism, noted Urvan Parfentyev, coordinator of the Safe Internet Center.