Russia fully blocks WhatsApp, talks up state-backed alternative

U.S. messenger app WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms META.O, has been completely blocked in Russia for failing to comply with local law, the Kremlin said on Thursday, suggesting Russians turn to a state-backed "national messenger" instead.

"Due to Meta's unwillingness to comply with Russian law, such a decision was indeed made and implemented," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, proposing that Russians switch to MAX, Russia's state-owned messenger.

"MAX is an accessible alternative, a developing messenger, a national messenger, and it is available on the market for citizens as an alternative," said Peskov.

Critics say MAX is a surveillance tool, something the authorities deny.

The move against WhatsApp is the culmination of six months of pressure on the U.S. company and reflects a wider push by the Russian authorities at a time of war to create and control a "sovereign" communications infrastructure in which foreign-owned tech companies submit to local laws or disappear.

Meta Russia had already been designated as an extremist organisation, and WhatsApp had complained about what it said was an attempt to fully block its service.

"Today the Russian government attempted to fully block WhatsApp in an effort to drive people to a state-owned surveillance app," it said in a statement.

"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".

Some domain names associated with WhatsApp disappeared from Russia's national register of domain names, meaning that devices inside Russia stopped receiving its IP addresses from the app and that it could be accessed only by using a virtual private network (VPN).

Roskomnadzor, the state communications regulator, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RESTRICTIONS ON WHATSAPP

Russian authorities, who also block or restrict social media platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, have been heavily pushing MAX, which critics say could be used to track users.

The authorities have dismissed those accusations as false and say MAX, which integrates various government-related services into it, is designed to simplify and improve the everyday lives of citizens.

Roskomnadzor first began restricting WhatsApp and other messenger services in August, making it impossible to complete phone calls on them after accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.

It said in December it was taking new measures to gradually restrict the app, which it accused of continuing to violate Russian law and of being a platform 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."

Russian courts have repeatedly fined WhatsApp for failing to delete banned content and the authorities have insisted that the company needs a local representative office in Russia to be compliant, something it does not have.

Since December, many Russians have been able to use WhatsApp only in conjunction with a virtual private network and have switched to using rival messenger apps, though some of those - like Telegram - are also under pressure from the authorities for the same reasons.

-Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Mexico City, Chandni Shah in Bengaluru, Gleb Stolyarov, Ron Popeski, and Andrew Osborn in Moscow; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Rashmi Aich and Timothy Heritage/Reuters