Russia blocks WhatsApp as it pushes state-backed alternative on citizens

Russian authorities have taken new measures to ensure they can monitor all communications by people inside the country, officially blocking access to the popular, Meta-owned messaging app WhatsApp.

WhatsApp said in a statement shared Thursday on social media that Russia had “attempted to fully block WhatsApp in an effort to drive people to a state-owned surveillance app,” calling it an attempt to isolate “over 100 million users from private and secure communication.”

WhatsApp called it a “backwards step” that would lead to “less safety for people in Russia.”

Speaking to reporters Thursday in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed “a decision was indeed made and implemented” in response to a question on the WhatsApp ban. 

He said the decision was taken due to WhatsApp’s unwillingness “to comply with the norms and letter of Russian law.”

The ban appears to stem from Russian legislation that requires all companies listed on a register of online information disseminators to store both personal user details and data on all electronic messages exchanged within Russia, and to make that information available to government agencies.

Roskomnadzor, the Russian federal agency responsible for monitoring — and censoring — mass media in the country, added WhatsApp to that register in late 2024.  

WhatsApp said in its statement that it would “do everything we can to keep users connected.” 

CBS News found on Thursday that while WhatsApp was blocked for users inside Russia, it was still possible to use the app via a virtual private network (VPN), which is not illegal in the country, despite the Kremlin’s ban.

Earlier in the week, another popular messaging app, Telegram, also faced new restrictions in Russia in a move highly criticized by many citizens. According to Roskomnadzor, which, like all Russian government agencies, uses the platform itself to distribute official announcements, Telegram failed to protect users’ personal data. 

Telegram founder Pavel Durov, a Russian national who lives in exile in Dubai and who faces outstanding allegations in France over alleged criminal activity on his platform, criticized the move, saying the real motive was political censorship.

“Russia is restricting access to Telegram in an attempt to force its citizens to use a state-controlled app built for surveillance and political censorship,” he said, adding that “restricting citizens’ freedom is never the right answer.”   

Russia previously banned a number of social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter) in response to what it said was the platforms’ “discrimination” against Russian media following the launch of Moscow’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

Russia’s state-backed “Max” app

The “surveillance app” app referred to in the statements by WhatsApp and Telegram’s Durov is a platform called MAX. Launched in 2025 with full backing from the government, it is a multifunction app that includes messaging and e-commerce functions, but also access to a wide range of government services such as medical and municipal appointments.

Similar to the WeChat app in China, MAX is touted by Russian officials as both a social network and key portal for government services.

Authorities ordered the state-backed app to come pre-installed on all new digital devices sold in Russia from last year.

The company notes in its legal terms that it can share user data with Russian authorities upon request, but says it does so only after a “mandatory legal assessment is conducted to determine the legality, validity, and adequacy of the requested data volume for the stated purposes,” and that it provides “only the minimum amount of data expressly required by applicable law.”

India’s government last year revoked a previous order for all new devices sold in the country to come pre-loaded with a state-developed and owned communications app, amid an outcry by opposition politicians and privacy organizations warning that it would be intrusive.