Russia clamps down on WhatsApp and Telegram over data sharing
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 invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with critics saying that Russia is trying to expand its control over the country's internet space.
President 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 platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
'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 Platforms, 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.
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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 might 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.
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Glasgow Times
24 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin shake hands in Alaska as Ukraine war talks begin
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Putin stuns Trump as he breaks into English to make surprise Moscow offer after leaders announced 'no deal' on ending Ukraine war
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Putin criticised by Ukraine's ambassador to Australia after inconclusive meeting with Trump
Vladimir Putin remains determined to 'revive the Soviet Union' by 'destroying democracy next door', Ukraine's ambassador to Australia has said in the wake of the Russian president's inconclusive meeting with the US president, Donald Trump. Putin and Trump met for nearly three hours in Alaska, emerging to tell reporters that 'great progress' had been made on a deal to end Russia's war on Ukraine but that there was no peace agreement. 'There's no deal until there's a deal,' Trump said, saying he would brief Nato leaders and Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on the meeting. Putin, through an interpreter, said while he agreed Ukraine's security should be guaranteed insisted the 'root causes' of the conflict must be resolved. Speaking to the ABC in the wake of the meeting, Ukraine's ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko said the root cause of the conflict from Putin's perspective was a sovereign, independent and democratic Ukraine. 'When Putin talks about the 'root cause of war', it's an independent Ukraine on the map of Europe. That's the only cause of war for Russia. 'He planned to take over Kyiv in several days, the entire Ukraine in several weeks … he is pursuing his ambition of destroying democracy next door.' Putin had given no indication he was prepared to withdraw from his irredentist ambitions, Myroshnychenko said. 'Putin is just out there on his mission to revive the Soviet Union, to revive the Russian empire, and it can't be revived without Ukraine. Just overnight, as we speak, Russians have attacked many Ukrainian cities, sent many drones. So we don't really see any indication of him ending his war.' Sign up: AU Breaking News email Myroshnychenko said while it was a positive step that the meeting had taken place, a bilateral discussion – with only the US and Russia at the table – could not broker a sustainable peace. 'We welcome America's involvement in this to make sure this war can end, but we understand it can't end without Ukraine involved, without Europe involved … we can't discuss the security of Europe without Europe at the table.' In Anchorage, Alaska, Trump and Putin's planned one-on-one meeting was replaced by a three-on-three meeting that also included US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff on the American side. Alongside Putin was Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, a former ambassador to the US. After the meeting, the two presidents addressed reporters but took no questions. The Russian president spoke first, urging both countries to 'turn the page' on their fraught relationship and 'go back to cooperation'. He said he and Trump had worked out 'an understanding' but no final agreement and urged European leaders to 'not throw a wrench in the works' and to 'not use backroom dealings' to undermine the progress that had been made. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'I have every reason to believe that moving down this path we can come – and the sooner the better – to the end of the conflict in Ukraine.' But Putin also insisted that the 'root causes' of the conflict must be resolved. Those 'root causes' have previously included demands for Ukraine's formal renunciation of Nato membership as well as its 'denazification' – an ill-defined set of demands that include the removal of Zelenskyy as president. The US president, who spoke more briefly than Putin, described the meeting as 'extremely productive'. Trump warned: 'There's no deal until there's a deal. I will call up Nato … I'll, of course, call up [Ukraine's] president Zelenskyy and tell him about today's meeting. It's ultimately up to them.' The chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, Kateryna Argyrou, said Putin went to Alaska with 'nothing to offer except more war'. 'No ceasefire, no retreat from his maximalist demands … even as discussions were taking place, Russian missiles and drones were raining down on Ukrainian cities and towns.' Argyrou said Putin only wanted Ukraine's surrender, not peace. 'His recycled propaganda about 'root causes' is simply code for denying Ukraine's right to exist as a sovereign, independent nation – a denial made real through the devastation Ukrainians face every day. 'There can be no lasting peace until Russia faces the truth: Ukraine is a sovereign nation.' Argyrou urged Australia to 'stay united' with allies in backing Ukraine's defence and enforcing sanctions against Russian figures.
