Russian authorities have taken new measures to make sure they will monitor all communications by individuals contained in the nation, formally blocking entry to the favored, Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp.
WhatsApp mentioned in a assertion shared Thursday on social media that Russia had “tried to totally block WhatsApp in an effort to drive individuals to a state-owned surveillance app,” calling it an try to isolate “over 100 million customers from non-public and safe communication.”
WhatsApp referred to as it a “backwards step” that might result in “much less security for individuals in Russia.”
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Talking to reporters Thursday in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed “a choice was certainly made and carried out” in response to a query on the WhatsApp ban.
He mentioned the choice was taken on account of WhatsApp’s unwillingness “to adjust to the norms and letter of Russian legislation.”
The ban seems to stem from Russian laws that requires all corporations listed on a register of on-line info disseminators to retailer each private person particulars and knowledge on all digital messages exchanged inside Russia, and to make that info accessible to authorities businesses.
Roskomnadzor, the Russian federal company chargeable for monitoring — and censoring — mass media within the nation, added WhatsApp to that register in late 2024.
WhatsApp mentioned in its assertion that it will “do all the pieces we are able to to maintain customers linked.”
CBS Information discovered on Thursday that whereas WhatsApp was blocked for customers inside Russia, it was nonetheless potential to make use of the app by way of a digital non-public community (VPN), which isn’t unlawful within the nation, regardless of the Kremlin’s ban.
Earlier within the week, one other widespread messaging app, Telegram, additionally confronted new restrictions in Russia in a transfer extremely criticized by many voters. In keeping with Roskomnadzor, which, like all Russian authorities businesses, makes use of the platform itself to distribute official bulletins, Telegram failed to guard customers’ private knowledge.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov, a Russian nationwide who lives in exile in Dubai and who faces excellent allegations in France over alleged legal exercise on his platform, criticized the transfer, saying the actual motive was political censorship.
“Russia is proscribing entry to Telegram in an try to drive its residents to make use of a state-controlled app constructed for surveillance and political censorship,” he mentioned, including that “proscribing residents’ freedom isn’t the suitable reply.”
Russia beforehand banned various social media platforms, together with Instagram, Fb, and X (previously generally known as Twitter) in response to what it mentioned was the platforms’ “discrimination” towards Russian media following the launch of Moscow’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s state-backed “Max” app
The “surveillance app” app referred to within the statements by WhatsApp and Telegram’s Durov is a platform referred to as MAX. Launched in 2025 with full backing from the federal government, it’s a multifunction app that features messaging and e-commerce features, but additionally entry to a variety of presidency providers equivalent to medical and municipal appointments.
Much like the WeChat app in China, MAX is touted by Russian officers as each a social community and key portal for presidency providers.
Authorities ordered the state-backed app to return pre-installed on all new digital units offered in Russia from final yr.
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The corporate notes in its authorized phrases that it might probably share person knowledge with Russian authorities upon request, however says it does so solely after a “necessary authorized evaluation is carried out to find out the legality, validity, and adequacy of the requested knowledge quantity for the said functions,” and that it offers “solely the minimal quantity of knowledge expressly required by relevant legislation.”
India’s authorities final yr revoked a earlier order for all new units offered within the nation to return pre-loaded with a state-developed and owned communications app, amid an outcry by opposition politicians and privateness organizations warning that it will be intrusive.
