Technology & Science
Russia Warns of Full WhatsApp Ban, Pushes Users Toward State-Backed ‘Max’ App
Between 28 Nov and 1 Dec 2025, regulator Roskomnadzor moved from throttling WhatsApp calls to threatening a total nationwide block unless Meta meets Russian data-access demands.
Focusing Facts
- Voice calls on WhatsApp were already disabled in Russia in August 2025; the new warning widens the penalty to all messaging functions.
- WhatsApp has roughly 100 million Russian users, making it one of the country’s two most-used messengers.
- The state-favoured Max app, developed by VK, became compulsory bloatware on all new phones and tablets starting 1 Sept 2025.
Context
Moscow’s gambit echoes the 1873–1905 Tsarist censorship committees and, more recently, China’s 2009 expulsion of Facebook and Twitter that cleared the runway for WeChat and Weibo. The long arc is a century-old tug-of-war between sovereign information control and transnational networks: radio jammers in the Cold War, the 2012–18 attempts to corral Telegram, now encrypted chat. Each turn tightens Russia’s digital sovereignty project, shifting power from U.S.-based platforms to Kremlin-aligned ecosystems that lack end-to-end encryption, easing surveillance while nurturing domestic tech champions. If the ban proceeds, it accelerates the balkanisation of the internet—a reversal of the 1990s dream of a borderless web—and cements a precedent other states watching the Ukraine-era sanctions may copy over the next half-century, fracturing global communications much as 19th-century empires controlled telegraph cables.
Perspectives
Pro-Kremlin or state-aligned outlets
e.g., Azeri–Press Information Agency, Pakistan Observer — They frame WhatsApp as a tool for terrorism, fraud and other crimes, presenting a nationwide ban as a necessary law-enforcement step and urging Russians to adopt the government-backed Max messenger. By taking officials’ claims at face value and spotlighting security threats while downplaying privacy or free-speech concerns, these reports reinforce the Kremlin’s push for tighter digital control and mass surveillance.
International & digital-rights-focused outlets
e.g., Analytics Insight, India TV News, eNCAnews — They interpret Moscow’s threat as part of an escalating crackdown on foreign tech and online dissent, warning that forcing users to switch to unencrypted local apps will erode privacy and free expression. Their coverage leans heavily on critics of the Kremlin and may understate genuine crime-fighting motives, portraying every regulatory move primarily through a censorship lens.
Business/market-oriented press
e.g., Markets Insider — They treat Roskomnadzor’s warning mainly as a regulatory risk for Meta’s WhatsApp, noting the potential for a complete block if legal demands aren’t met. The market-impact focus sidelines the broader civil-liberties debate, presenting the issue as a compliance story rather than examining surveillance or free-speech implications.