The Russian government has started blocking access to the Telegram app. The administration asserts that the app does not help to remove criminal and terrorist information. Consequently, the founder of the app, Pavel Durov, has been left with no option other than to object to the government's decision. He argues that the decision is meant to pressure the Russian population to use the state-developed Max app. Max is an app created by VK, a social networking site that has already been pre-installed on every device in Russia. The app is important to the Russian military; therefore, bloggers who are pro-war have been protesting due to the impact of the ban. According to experts, the move is part of Russia's plan to implement its own monitoring of the Internet, similar to China's 'Great Firewall,' although technical imperatives are continually thwarting such processes.