MOSCOW (AP) — At least several thousand people are rallying in Moscow to protest against recent restrictions on internet freedom in Russia.

Protesters flocked to a central street on Monday, which is a public holiday in Russia, to rally against authorities' move to block parts of the internet in Russia.

Russian authorities this month began to block popular messaging app Telegram over its refusal to hand over encryption keys. Telegram, which was developed by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, has refused to share data, citing privacy concerns. It has promised to keep the app running despite the ban.

In a battle to cripple Telegram's operations, the Russian communications watchdog earlier this month blocked some servers owned by tech giants Google and Amazon, affecting millions of Russian websites.