World
Russia Moves To Block WhatsApp In Messaging App Crackdown
WhatsApp said the move aims to push more than 100 million of its app users in Russia.
Russia has “attempted to fully block” WhatsApp in the country, the company said, as the Kremlin continues to tighten restrictions on messaging apps.
Meta-owned WhatsApp said the move aims to push more than 100 million of its app users in Russia to a “state-owned surveillance app”.
This comes after Russian regulators further curbed access to Telegram, citing a lack of security. Telegram is estimated to have as many users as WhatsApp in Russia.
The Kremlin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.
“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,” said WhatsApp in a statement.
“We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected.”
Russia’s communications regulator, the Roskomnadzor, has made repeated warnings to WhatsApp to comply with local law.
State-owned Tass Media reported earlier this year that WhatsApp is expected to be permanently blocked in the country in 2026.
“Such harsh measures” are “absolutely justified” since Russia has designated Meta as an extremist organisation, Andrei Svintsov, a Russian official, was quoted as saying.
Since that designation in 2022, Meta apps like Instagram and Facebook have been blocked in Russia and are only accessible through virtual private networks.
Moscow has made extensive efforts to push Russians to a state-developed communications platform called Max.
The app has been likened to China’s WeChat – a so-called “super app” that combines messaging and government services, but without encryption.
Russia has argued that both WhatsApp and Telegram have refused to store Russian users’ data in the country as required by law.
Since 2025, the authorities have mandated that the Max app be pre-installed on all new devices sold in the country. Public sector employees, teachers and students have been required to use the platform.
Telegram’s chief executive, Russian-born businessman Pavel Durov, said the state is restricting access to its service in an attempt to force its people to use its own app for surveillance and political censorship.
Iran has tried a similar strategy to ban Telegram and push its people to a state-run alternative, but citizens have found ways to work around this, he wrote online.
“Restricting citizens’ freedom is never the right answer,” said Durov.
Kenya Insights allows guest blogging, if you want to be published on Kenya’s most authoritative and accurate blog, have an expose, news TIPS, story angles, human interest stories, drop us an email on [email protected] or via Telegram
Kenya Considers Military Escorts For Cargo Ships To Middle East
I’m A Life Member Of KNUT, Sossion Warns Oyuu To Be Ready For A Showdown As Seeks To Reclaim SG Post
Dozens Of Bodies, Mostly Infants, Discovered In Kenya Mass Grave
OpenAI Ends Disney Partnership As It Closes Sora Video-Making App
Kenya Orders Mandatory USB Type-C For All Phones, Locking Out Cheap Kabambe
Only 250,391 New Voters Have Registered Amid ‘Niko Kadi’ Campaign
US Aircraft Carrier That Left Middle East Because Of Fire Has Other Issues: Report
On The Run: Ex-Java CEO Derrick Van Houten Jumps Bail As Courts Close In Over Multimillion Fraud
‘Punish Them Heavily If They Are Playing Games’: Inside the Fuel Cartel’s War Against the Kenyan Consumer
Lobby Group Demands CBK Probe Into Sidian Bank’s 502pc Profit Jump To Sh1.73 Billion, Calling Growth ‘Suspicious’
Kenya Strips Dutch Climate Body of Diplomatic Immunity Amid Donor Fraud Scandal and Allegations of Executive Capture
How Little-Known Pesa Print, Linked to State House Tycoons, Won NTSA Tender Worth Sh42 Billion in Traffic Fines
Ex-Inchcape Kenya CEO Sanjiv Shah Charged With Bank Fraud
Tuju Forcefully Removed From His Karen Property With Masked Officers In Unmarked Vehicles In Early Morning Raid
Named: Havi Says Mutava Confessed He Was Collecting The Bribe For Lady Justice Josephine Mongare, So Why Is JSC Still Silence?
Nowhere To Hide: Govt Begins Tracing Hustler Fund Defaulters Using National IDs To Recover Unpaid Sh12 Billion
Waweru’s Bank Pockets Sh1.16 Billion from KPC IPO While Ordinary Kenyans Fled the Sale
The Man With The Golden Pen: How NLC’s Joel Ombati Is Accused Of Masterminding Kenya’s Biggest Infrastructure Land Heist
The New Master of the Nation: How a Tanzanian Billionaire With a President in His Pocket Just Bought Kenya’s Most Powerful Press
‘They Will Eat You Alive’: Retired Teacher Warns Against Bashy African Credit as Sh500,000 Loan Spirals Into Sh1.5 Million Fight
-
News2 weeks agoTuju Forcefully Removed From His Karen Property With Masked Officers In Unmarked Vehicles In Early Morning Raid
-
News2 weeks agoNamed: Havi Says Mutava Confessed He Was Collecting The Bribe For Lady Justice Josephine Mongare, So Why Is JSC Still Silence?
-
Business1 week ago‘They Will Eat You Alive’: Retired Teacher Warns Against Bashy African Credit as Sh500,000 Loan Spirals Into Sh1.5 Million Fight
-
Business2 weeks agoCentum Special Report: Is Mworia Overseeing Shareholder Value Destruction?
-
Investigations6 days agoTHE RUTO HAND IN TUJU’S FALL: How a President-Linked Petroleum Baron Walked Away With Sh3.5 Billion Karen Land for Sh450 Million
-
Africa2 weeks agoThe IRGC’s Man in Juba: How Iran’s Shadow Oil Network Pillaged South Sudan’s Barrels
-
Investigations2 weeks agoThe Confession, The Child, The Forged Documents and The Silenced Commission: Havi Lays Bare The Full Architecture Of Corruption Behind The Tuju Property Saga
-
Investigations1 week agoInvestigations Reveal The Depth Of Rot In City Hall’s Garbage Collection Tender To Corrupt Ghanaian Firm