WhatsApp has criticized Russia’s decision to ban the messaging app, saying the move will cut off more than 100 million users from “private and secure” communications and may also lead to “less security” for people in the country.
Russia announced Thursday that it is blocking foreign social media platform WhatsApp and plans to also restrict Telegram to promote its domestic “super-app” called Max, which is modeled after China’s WeChat.
“Today, the Russian government attempted to completely block WhatsApp in an attempt to drive people into the state-owned surveillance app,” the platform said in X (previously a Twitter post on Thursday, just before Russia banned the app.
WhatsApp further added that “attempting to isolate more than 100 million users from private and secure communication is a step backwards and can only lead to less security for people in Russia”. She further assured that the company will continue to do its best to keep users connected.
“Such a decision was indeed made and implemented,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday when asked about the announced ban, according to the AFP news agency.
What did Telegram say?
On Tuesday, Russia also announced that it has now begun restricting access to Telegram, one of Moscow’s most popular social media platforms, citing that citizens’ personal data is not protected on the platform.
Moscow also added that the messaging platform does not take any measures against fraud or the use of the platform for criminal and terrorist purposes.
In a statement released the same day, the Russian-born founder of the messaging platform, Pavel Durov, said the country’s attempt to limit the platform would fail, adding that the platform stands for freedom of speech and privacy regardless of pressure.
More countries are going inland
With the new app, Moscow seeks to tighten its control over the country’s digital and internet ecosystem as part of a broader push to regulate the flow of information online.
This is not the first time the country has banned or restricted foreign apps due to security and data concerns. Last month, France also announced a plan to ditch American video conferencing platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom with a home-grown alternative.
France’s decision to phase out the US-based platforms came as it decided to replace them with a home-grown platform known as Visio, which will be fully implemented in government agencies by 2027. Visio will handle conferences with data hosted by French provider Outscale and transcriptions or captions managed by local firms.