Holiday Season Crackdown in Russia: Moscow Is Triyng to Silence 100M WhatsApp Users

WhatsApp condemned new restrictions on its service in Russia, accusing authorities of attempting to strip more than 100 million users of access to private communication ahead of the holiday season.

The criticism came after Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, repeated its warning that the messaging app could be fully blocked unless it brings its operations into line with Russian law, as reported by Reuters on December 24.

Russian state media quoted the regulator as saying: “WhatsApp continues to violate Russian law. The messenger is used to organise and carry out terrorist acts on the territory of the country, to recruit their perpetrators and to commit fraud and other crimes against our citizens.”

Roskomnadzor said it was gradually restricting the service as a result. On December 23, monitoring websites recorded thousands of user complaints about outages and slow connection speeds. WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms.

Tensions between Moscow and foreign technology companies have escalated since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to Reuters. Authorities have blocked Facebook and Instagram, slowed access to YouTube, and imposed hundreds of fines on platforms accused of breaching Russian rules on content moderation and data storage.

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“In restricting access to WhatsApp, the Russian government aims to take away the right to private, end-to-end encrypted communication from over 100 million people, right before the holiday season in Russia,” a WhatsApp spokesperson said.

The added that WhatsApp is deeply woven into daily life across Russia, used by parents, workplaces, friends, neighbors, and extended families in regions across the country, and added that the company is committed to defending its users, warning that pushing people toward less secure, government-mandated apps would ultimately make them less safe.

Earlier, Roskomnadzor said the leadership of the US-based gaming platform Roblox has indicated it is ready to cooperate in order to have the service unblocked in Russia.

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