The Russian authorities are considering lifting the ban on Telegram after Pavel Durov, its founder, has agreed to cooperate with the country's authorities in the fight against the COVID-19.
Government officials are reportedly considering lifting the ban after several years of continuous battles against the messaging service.
According to local news outlet Kommersant, two deputies have prepared a bill that proposes lifting of the ban on Telegram in Russia.
One of the arguments used to defend the lifting of the ban is the fact that even official authorities are using the app to raise citizens' awareness of the measures to fight the pandemic in spite of the fact that the service has been officially banned in Russia since 2018.
The two deputies have sent the bill to Russia's new prime minister Mikhail Mishustin as well as to the country's Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Media for its consideration.
If the ban is eventually lifted, this would be great news for Telegram, which has been fighting with the country's government since 2018 after refusing to hand over the encryption keys that would allow access to its users' accounts.
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