The Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Supervision in the Sphere of Communications, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) is consistently introducing restrictive measures against the WhatsApp messenger in Russia due to violations of the law. This is reported by TASS with reference to Roskomnadzor.
The message says that “WhatsApp continues to violate” Russian legislation. It is noted that the messenger is used to carry out and organize “terrorist actions on the territory” of the Russian Federation, “to recruit their perpetrators,” as well as “for fraudulent and other crimes” against Russians.
It is argued that “WhatsApp does not comply with the requirements” that are aimed at suppressing and preventing the commission of crimes on the territory of the country.
In this regard, Roskomnadzor is consistently introducing restrictive measures against the messenger. The introduction of restrictions on WhatsApp will continue, Roskomnadzor said.
Roskomnadzor promised to completely block WhatsApp in Russia in case of further failure to comply with the requirements of Russian legislation.
“The gradual degradation of calls on WhatsApp began in August, which Roskomnadzor reported in the media,” the message says. The restrictions are being introduced in stages, which allows users to switch “to using other messengers.” Roskomnadzor recommended “switching to national services” and warned of complete blocking of the messenger if it still does not comply with “the requirements of Russian legislation.”
In Russia, in order to combat fraud and ensure security, restrictions have been introduced on calls through WhatsApp and Telegram messengers. At the same time, the recently launched national MAX application, aimed primarily at use in government agencies, has become widespread.