Russia's state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has threatened to completely block WhatsApp if the messaging service fails to comply with national laws, according to news agencies. The warning follows restrictions imposed in August on some WhatsApp and Telegram calls, with authorities accusing foreign-owned platforms, including Meta, of refusing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.
Roskomnadzor reiterated its accusation on Friday, stating that WhatsApp had not met Russian requirements designed to prevent and combat crime. “If the messaging service continues to fail to meet the demands of Russian legislation, it will be completely blocked,” the watchdog was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. WhatsApp has accused Moscow of attempting to block millions of Russians from accessing secure communication.
Russian authorities are promoting a state-backed rival app called MAX, which critics claim could be used to track users. State media have dismissed those accusations as false. Russia has been tightening its control of the internet over recent months, with mobile phone internet shutdowns affecting dozens of regions, ostensibly to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks.
The impact of these shutdowns has been profound: credit cards fail for public transport, ATMs disconnect, and parents of diabetic children report being unable to monitor blood glucose levels during outages. In November, 57 Russian regions on average reported daily disruptions to cellphone links, according to Na Svyazi, an activist group monitoring shutdowns. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the measures are “absolutely justified and necessary”.
However, analyst Kateryna Stepanenko of the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said the shutdowns have not been effective in curbing the intensity of Ukraine’s drone attacks, “given the amount of strikes we’ve seen in recent months on Russian oil refineries”. In many regions, only a handful of government-approved Russian websites and online services, designated as being on “white lists”, are available during connectivity blackouts.
