Russia
As Moscow’s internet controls tighten in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine, Russia accuses popular chat applications of aiding crime and sabotage.
Under the pretext of avoiding crime, Russia has partially stopped voice calls on Telegram and WhatsApp. As the government improves online policing, this affects millions of users. According to Russian media monitoring organization Mediascope, the call ban will affect Telegram’s over 89 million users and WhatsApp’s estimated 96 million monthly users in Russia.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media and internet watchdog, defended the action in a statement on Wednesday, claiming it was essential to combating crime.
“Foreign messengers Telegram and WhatsApp have emerged as the primary voice services used to defraud and extort money, as well as to involve Russian residents in sabotage and terrorist actions, in accordance with law enforcement authorities and multiple citizen pleas,” the regulator stated.
“The proprietors of the messengers have disregarded repeated requests to take countermeasures,” it stated.
Telegram and WhatsApp Are Being Restricted in RussiaThe Impact on Users
This week, there have been numerous reports of people experiencing muffled calls or unsuccessful connections. Officials in Crimea have warned that delays to mobile internet could last forever.
With 96 million monthly users, WhatsApp is the most popular app in Russia, followed by Telegram, which has over 89 million users, according to Mediascope data from July. In order to connect, people are now looking for other apps or VPNs.?
Telegram and WhatsApp Are Being Restricted in Russia ?
According to Roskomnadzor, the Russian internet watchdog, the sites disregarded repeated orders to stop illicit activities. Moscow claims that WhatsApp’s partial shutdown, which affects over 100 million users, is the result of its opposition to government actions that compromise secure communication.
Russia has used mobile internet outages more lately, allegedly in response to a drone strike by Ukraine, but experts contend that the real goal is to impose more stringent control. They are also promoting state-friendly chat apps that will likely be closely monitored and creating a so-called white list of websites that have been authorized by the government.
