Volgograd City Hall proposed postponing a rally in defense of Telegram due to the shelling.

A Volgograd resident who applied to the authorities for approval for a rally against the blocking of Telegram was asked to postpone the event "until the situation stabilizes." The organizer refused, after which "plainclothes men" approached her.

In early March, a 20-year-old Volzhsky resident submitted documents to the Volgograd mayor's office seeking approval for a protest against the blocking and slowdown of the popular messaging app.

According to the woman's notification, the three-hour rally is scheduled for mid-March in the Krasnooktyabrsky District, at Metallurgov Square. This is one of the few locations in the city where mass events unrelated to city and regional government are permitted. About 200 people are expected to participate in the event, V1.ru reported.

Activists and The creation of an initiative group of IT specialists, lawyers, and ordinary internet users who will help draft an appeal to BigTech and Max. The initiator of the application clarifies that she intends to call on the public to preserve freedom of communication and protect competition.

"Blocking Telegram, YouTube, and social media isn't about 'foundations,' but about our right to freedom of thought and speech. Without them, IT professionals have no work, no news, no communication. Peacefully discussing problems within the law is not a crime. They only check for calls to violence or extremism, which don't exist here. It's like petitions or open letters," a Volgograd resident wrote on March 3 in her Telegram channel "Luch."

The organizer herself reported on March 6 that the Volgograd mayor's office proposed postponing the rally in defense of the messenger due to shelling.

"Drone and missile alerts are periodically introduced in Volgograd. Based on this, we propose postponing the event until the situation stabilizes. "The situation and risk reduction measures are aimed at ensuring the safety of the event participants," the city administration said in a response, a copy of which the organizer herself published.

The activist believes that legally this is neither a refusal nor an approval. "We need to understand the options: should we just postpone it or can we hold it at the same time and location? I'm consulting with several lawyers about what to do," she wrote.

On March 10, the rally organizer reported that some people had come to her work. "People in civilian clothes came to work. Tomorrow there will be a post about the outcome of the situation. I will not comment," the activist said.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the Abinsky District Court of the Krasnodar Territory fined local resident Ivan Kazhan 1,000 rubles for displaying extremist symbols. This is the first known punishment in Russia for content in the state-run messenger Max.