This is at least partially bullshit. I have a sideloaded version of Telegram for Android, which is capable of auto-update itself and promoted as even more free speech compared to stores version. I also have a Windows desktop client, which works normally with adult content blocked on iOS client.

Both of those clients blocked Smart Vote bot because my phone number is in Russia. At the same time all my non-Russian friends was able to freely use the bot all of the time.