Russia has announced restrictions on the messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.
Moscow has clashed with foreign tech platforms for several years over content and data storage in a simmering dispute that intensified after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Critics say Russia is trying to expand its control over the country’s internet space.
Vladimir Putin has authorised the development of a state-backed messaging app integrated with government services, as Moscow seeks to establish what it calls digital sovereignty by promoting homegrown services and reducing its dependence on foreign-owned platforms.
“In order to counteract criminals … measures are being taken to partially restrict calls on these foreign messengers,” the Interfax news agency quoted the communications regulator Roskomnadzor as saying. “No other restrictions have been imposed on their functionality.”
Russia’s digital ministry said: “Access to calls in foreign messengers will be restored after they start complying with Russian legislation.”
In a statement, WhatsApp’s owner, Meta, said: “WhatsApp is private, end-to-end encrypted, and defies government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people. We will keep doing all we can to make end-to-end encrypted communication available to people everywhere, including in Russia.”
Telegram said it “actively combats misuse of its platform, including calls for sabotage or violence, as well as fraud” and removes “millions of pieces of harmful content every day”.
Reuters reported that voice calls on Telegram had barely functioned since 11 August and that WhatsApp calls had been rendered impossible due to intermittent sound and a metallic buzzing.
The digital development ministry said Telegram and WhatsApp had ignored repeated requests to take measures to stop their platforms being used for activities such as fraud and terrorism.
Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the lower house of parliament’s information technology committee, said the platforms would need to open legal entities in Russia and cooperate with Roskomnadzor and law enforcement as part of their compliance with Russian law to lift the blocking measures.
Meta was labelled an extremist organisation by Moscow in 2022, but WhatsApp, widely used in Russia, was allowed to remain. The messenger has received some penalties for failing to remove information banned by Russia.
Gorelkin last month said that WhatsApp should prepare to leave the market. Another lawmaker described WhatsApp’s presence in the Russian market as a breach of national security.
Critics have voiced concerns that Russia’s new state-backed messaging app may track its users’ activities and have suggested Russia could slow WhatsApp’s speeds in order to get users to migrate to the new platform.
Human Rights Watch said in a report last month that Russia’s government was increasing its technological capacities and control over the country’s internet infrastructure, allowing for more widespread blocking and throttling of unwanted websites and censorship circumvention tools.
