Russia has blocked the U.S.-based messaging app WhatsApp, the Kremlin announced Thursday, claiming the Meta-owned company failed to comply with local laws.
The move follows six months of pressure on WhatsApp and comes after Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram were banned in Russia in 2022 following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Due to Meta’s unwillingness to comply with Russian law, such a decision was indeed taken and implemented,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
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Peskov instead urged Russians to use MAX, the country’s state-owned messaging app.
“MAX is an accessible alternative, a developing messenger, a national messenger, and it is available on the market for citizens as an alternative,” he said.
WhatsApp, Russia’s most popular messenger app, said in a statement that the Russian government “attempted to fully block” the app “in an effort to drive people to a state-owned surveillance app.”
“Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” WhatsApp posted on X. “We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected.”
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Critics have claimed that MAX is a surveillance tool, which Russian authorities have denied.
Russian authorities have pushed for a communications infrastructure in which foreign-owned tech companies comply with local laws or face bans.
Other platforms, including Snapchat and YouTube, have also been blocked or restricted by Russian authorities. Meta was previously designated as an extremist organization in Russia.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications regulator, began restricting WhatsApp and other messenger services last August, according to Reuters, making it impossible to complete phone calls on them.
In December, Roskomnadzor accused WhatsApp of violating Russian law and of being a platform used “to organize and carry out terrorist acts on the territory of the country, to recruit their perpetrators and to commit fraud and other crimes.”
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WhatsApp has also been fined in Russian courts for failing to delete banned content.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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