Authorities in Russia have banned the use of WhatsApp, affecting roughly 100 million users as the Eastern European country pushes people toward state-controlled messaging platform, Max.
Media reports indicate that the Meta owned messaging platform has disappeared from Russia’s digital space as the country tightens controls on private messaging. Last year, Russia banned voice calls on WhatsApp slowly pushing out users from the popular messaging app
For months, authorities in Russia have been aggressive on Meta platforms WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, terming them “extremist.”
Last month, state-controlled news agency TASS reported that WhatsApp could face a permanent ban in Russia with the warning coming after communications watchdog Roskomnadzor citing breach of laws on data storage and content moderation.
Currently, YouTube is also on the radar in Russia, with media reports indicating that some pages have been taken out or take forever to load.
Meanwhile, authorities in the country have been pushing for the adoption of state-controlled Max, a new messaging app named the country’s “national messenger” last year.
Max is owned by VKontakte, which is arguably the largest social media company in Russia, and reportedly controlled by people close to President Vladimir Putin.
Analysts note that Max provides zero encryption of communications between parties, implying that the government can practically access and read anything sent on the platform.
