Google can now be added to the growing list of companies whose services and products are being adversely affected by the ongoing attempt to ban Telegram by the Russian regulator Roskomnadzor (RKN). That’s according to reports that Google has confirmed problems associated with the blocks. Specifically, those appear to be impacting Google Search, Gmail and push notifications for Android apps for users in Russia. The RKN has also confirmed that it is blocking Google’s services as part of the effort to crack down on Telegram. Perhaps more importantly, that has extended to Google’s Cloud platform. That means that, as was the case when Amazon’s AWS was included, other third-party products and services that operate on that platform can be affected too. Google is said to be actively investigating the problem.
However, this is just the latest in a long string of digital blockades in the RKN’s attempt to block access to Telegram. For those who may not be aware, the messaging and media sharing platform has been accused of failing to provide encryption keys to the Russian government so that it can access messages on the platform. Laws in the country require that and Telegram has effectively refused to comply. As a result, there are almost 18 million IP addresses currently being blocked by the agency in an attempt to reign it in. That’s an effort that has been almost entirely ineffective, though. That boils down to the fact that Telegram has been “hopping” from IP address to IP address as soon as its system recognizes that its current IP address is being blocked by RKN. While that has been effective in halting the use of smaller services, Telegram has a much larger user base. Both those users and Telegram have shown relatively high resolve when it comes to actions against the service’s use under any number of circumstances.
There’s been some speculation that this new interference with Google’s services may, at least in part, bring the current impasse to an end. The Russian government is currently working to put its best face forward in preparation for the World Cup. Google’s services are widely popular because of their inclusion with Android and disruption to those will arguably not bode well for the country’s image during the event. Moreover, Google may take actions of its own to stop Telegram from associating itself with its services and cloud servers. In the meantime, this ban is bad news for Google and Android users in the country and there’s no real way to know how things will progress moving forward.