Russia has blocked the popular messaging service WhatsApp over its failure to comply with local legislation, the Kremlin said Thursday, urging its 100 million Russian users to switch to a domestic alternative.
Moscow has for months been trying to shift Russian users onto Max, a domestic messaging service that lacks end-to-end encryption and that activists have called a potential tool for surveillance.
“As for the blocking of WhatsApp… such a decision was indeed made and implemented,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov said the decision was due to WhatsApp’s “reluctance to comply with the norms and letter of Russian law”.
“Max is an accessible alternative, a developing messenger, a national messenger. And it is an alternative available on the market for citizens,” he said.
WhatsApp, owned by US social media giant Meta, said Wednesday that it believed Russia was attempting to fully block the service in a bid to force users onto Max.
“We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected,” it said.
Critics and rights campaigners say the restrictions are a transparent attempt by the Kremlin to ramp up control and surveillance over internet use in Russia.
They also say it will make it harder for Russians to communicate abroad.
But Vilgelm, a 32-year-old engineer from Moscow, told AFP he believed the move would not isolate Russia.
“Given Russia’s weight in international affairs and trade, it is unlikely we would get a North Korea situation, where everything is completely blocked,” he told AFP.
Still, he finds it problematic that the authorities are “actively” promoting Max so aggressively.
“It all looks a bit too tempting,” said Vilgelm, who, like most people AFP spoke to, only gave his first name.