Latest news with #AntonGorelkin
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Russian MPs back new state messaging app to combat WhatsApp and Telegram
Russian lawmakers on Tuesday voted for the development of a state-backed messaging app that would be closely integrated with government services, as Moscow strives to reduce its dependency on platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. Russia has long sought to establish what it calls digital sovereignty by promoting home-grown services. Its push to replace foreign tech platforms became more urgent as some Western companies pulled out of the Russian market following Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Anton Gorelkin , deputy head of the Russian parliament's information policy committee which wrote the draft legislation, said Russia's app would offer messaging and calls, as well as other functionality that Telegram and Meta Platforms' WhatsApp do not have. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like A casa do Padre Fábio de Melo chocou o mundo inteiro Weight Loss Groove Undo "The main competitive advantage of the platform will be the deep integration with government services," Gorelkin wrote on Telegram. The draft legislation must still pass through the upper house of parliament and be signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law. Live Events Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev last week proposed integrating government services with a national messaging app at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, highlighting Russia's shortcomings compared to other countries in this area. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories He praised state-controlled technology company VK, whose VKontakte social media site is accessed by almost 80 million Russians every day, for developing home-grown services such as VK Video, a Russian rival to Alphabet's YouTube. VK has been spending heavily on producing content and improving its technical expertise to boost its audience, lurching to a 94.9-billion-rouble ($1.21 billion) loss in 2024. YouTube's audience in Russia has dropped sharply in the last year to fewer than 10 million daily users from more than 40 million in mid-2024, as slower download speeds have made it harder for people to access. Russian officials have blamed the slowdown on Google, accusing it of failing to invest in Russian infrastructure and criticising it for refusing to reinstate blocked Russian channels. YouTube has said the slowdown was not caused by any actions or technical issues on its side. Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Internet Protection Society, a Russian digital rights group, said on Telegram that he expected Russia to slow the speeds of WhatsApp and Telegram to make space for the new state messenger, which he has warned may violate personal freedoms.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Russian MPs back new state messaging app to combat WhatsApp and Telegram
June 10 (Reuters) - Russian lawmakers on Tuesday voted for the development of a state-backed messaging app that would be closely integrated with government services, as Moscow strives to reduce its dependency on platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram. Russia has long sought to establish what it calls digital sovereignty by promoting home-grown services. Its push to replace foreign tech platforms became more urgent as some Western companies pulled out of the Russian market following Moscow's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the Russian parliament's information policy committee which wrote the draft legislation, said Russia's app would offer messaging and calls, as well as other functionality that Telegram and Meta Platforms' (META.O), opens new tab WhatsApp do not have. "The main competitive advantage of the platform will be the deep integration with government services," Gorelkin wrote on Telegram. The draft legislation must still pass through the upper house of parliament and be signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law. Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev last week proposed integrating government services with a national messaging app at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, highlighting Russia's shortcomings compared to other countries in this area. He praised state-controlled technology company VK ( opens new tab, whose VKontakte social media site is accessed by almost 80 million Russians every day, for developing home-grown services such as VK Video, a Russian rival to Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab YouTube. VK has been spending heavily on producing content and improving its technical expertise to boost its audience, lurching to a 94.9-billion-rouble ($1.21 billion) loss in 2024. YouTube's audience in Russia has dropped sharply in the last year to fewer than 10 million daily users from more than 40 million in mid-2024, as slower download speeds have made it harder for people to access. Russian officials have blamed the slowdown on Google, accusing it of failing to invest in Russian infrastructure and criticising it for refusing to reinstate blocked Russian channels. YouTube has said the slowdown was not caused by any actions or technical issues on its side. Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Internet Protection Society, a Russian digital rights group, said on Telegram that he expected Russia to slow the speeds of WhatsApp and Telegram to make space for the new state messenger, which he has warned may violate personal freedoms. ($1 = 78.4205 roubles)
Reuters
06-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Sanctioned Russian crypto exchange suspends services as Tether blocks wallets
MOSCOW, March 6 (Reuters) - Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex on Thursday said stablecoin Tether had blocked digital wallets on its platform holding more than 2.5 billion roubles ($28 million), forcing it to suspend operations days after coming under EU sanctions. The European Union included Garantex in its 16th sanctions package against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine on February 24, accusing the crypto exchange of being closely associated with EU-sanctioned Russian banks and responsible for circumventing EU sanctions. "We have bad news," Garantex said on Telegram. "Tether has entered the war against the Russian crypto market." Tether did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Garantex said it was temporarily suspending the provision of all services, including cryptocurrency withdrawals. "We are fighting and will not give up," Garantex said. "Please note that all USDT held in Russian wallets is now under threat." Deprived of access to the U.S. dollar and cut off from the SWIFT global payments network, some Russians have turned to cryptocurrencies to move money overseas and the central bank has allowed businesses to use cryptocurrencies in global trade. The United States called Garantex a "ransomware-enabling virtual currency exchange" when sanctioning the company in April 2022, accusing it of allowing its systems to be abused by illicit actors. Russian lawmaker Anton Gorelkin accused Western countries of pursuing political goals and said it would not be the last time pressure is exerted on Russia's cryptocurrency infrastructure. "To the investors who underestimated this risk, my condolences," Gorelkin wrote on Telegram on Thursday. "But it is worth recognising that it is impossible to completely block this market for Russia," he said. "Cryptocurrencies will remain one of the most effective tools for circumventing sanctions, although USDT can be safely deleted from this list." ($1 = 89.2500 roubles)
