President Vladimir Putin has ‘fully blocked’ a popular app that is used by 66 million Russians in a new major crackdown.
It appears the Russian leader is further tightening his restrictions on apps available outside of the regime.
This comes as Putin has made the move to block WhatsApp from being used in Russia.
The social media app owned by Meta will no longer be accessible in the country due to the firm’s ‘unwillingness to comply with Russian law’, as a Kremlin spokesperson has claimed.
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Spokesman Dmitry Peskov went on to tell reporters that instead, Russians will be able to use MAX, which is the state-owned alternative.
Peskov continued: “MAX is an accessible alternative, a developing messenger, a national messenger, and it is available on the market for citizens as an alternative.”
He added that Meta might be able to resume its operations if it ‘complies with the law and enters into a dialogue’.
WhatsApp has responded to the news in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, where it said: “Today the Russian government attempted to fully block WhatsApp in an effort to drive people to a state-owned surveillance app. Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia. We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected.”
Speaking about the possibility of reinstating WhatsApp, Peskov said: “This is again a question of fulfilling the legislation. If the Meta corporation fulfils this and enters into dialogue with Russian authorities, then we have the possibility of reaching an agreement.”
Peskov added: “If the corporation sticks to an uncompromising position and, I would say, shows itself unready to align with Russian legislation, then there is no chance.”
This isn’t the first time that Russian authorities have blocked its citizens from accessing certain apps as, back in December, Snapchat was blocked and Apple’s FaceTime saw restrictions.
Back in March 2022, Meta’s activities were ruled as ‘extremist’ under Russia law by a Moscow court.
This came after tensions had grown over content policies following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian state went on to add Meta to a government list of ‘terrorist and extremist organisations’.
As of writing, the likes of Facebook and Instagram remain banned in Russia and have been labeled as ‘extremist’ by the state.
So, it’s not looking good for WhatsApp’s future in the country.