Russia WhatsApp Telegram: WhatsApp fully blocked in Russia as Moscow backs new platform and it is not Telegram. Check new alternative for Meta Platforms messenger
“Such a decision was indeed made and implemented due to Meta’s unwillingness to comply with Russian law,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He suggested that Russians switch to Russia’s state-owned messenger, MAX.
“MAX is available on the market as an accessible alternative, an emerging messenger, a national messenger and an alternative for citizens,” Peskov said.
Critics say the MAX is a surveillance vehicle, but officials deny this.
The move against WhatsApp is the culmination of a six-month-long crackdown on the US company and reflects a broader wartime push by Russian authorities to create and control an “independent” communications infrastructure under which foreign-owned tech companies would submit to local laws or disappear.
Meta Russia has already been identified as an extremist organisation, and WhatsApp has complained about what it says is an attempt to block its service altogether.
“Today, the Russian government attempted to completely block WhatsApp in order to direct people to a state-owned surveillance application,” the statement said.
“Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communications is a step backwards and can only lead to less security for people in Russia.”
Some domain names associated with WhatsApp have disappeared from Russia’s national domain registries; This means that devices in Russia have stopped receiving IP addresses from the app and can only be accessed using a virtual private network (VPN).
State communications regulator Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Russian authorities, which also block or restrict social media platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, are cracking down heavily on MAX, which critics say could be used to track users.
Officials rejected these accusations as unfounded and said that MAX, which integrates a variety of government-related services into itself, was designed to simplify and improve citizens’ daily lives.
Roskomnadzor first began restricting WhatsApp and other messaging services in August, making it impossible to complete phone calls on those services after accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.
In December, it said it was taking new measures to gradually restrict the app, which it accused of continuing to violate Russian law and being a platform used “to organize and carry out terrorist acts on the country’s territory, to recruit their perpetrators, to commit fraud and other crimes.”
Russian courts have repeatedly fined WhatsApp for failing to delete banned content, and authorities have insisted the company needs a local representation in Russia to be compliant, but this is something the company does not have.
Since December, many Russians have only been able to use WhatsApp with a virtual private network and are starting to use rival messaging apps, although some of these, such as Telegram, are also under pressure from authorities for the same reasons.
