Technology & Science
Russia Blocks FaceTime Nationwide, Reveals Earlier Snapchat Ban
On 4 Dec 2025 Roskomnadzor ordered network-level blocking of Apple’s end-to-end-encrypted FaceTime and, in the same notice, disclosed it had already banned Snapchat on 10 Oct 2025, citing unproven terrorism and fraud claims.
Focusing Facts
- FaceTime traffic was cut off country-wide on 4 Dec 2025, producing the "User unavailable" error for Russian users.
- Snapchat access was disabled on 10 Oct 2025 but the ban was only announced nearly eight weeks later.
- Apple refused FSB demands for interception capability, according to Reuters’ sources.
Context
States have choked communications before—Tsarist Russia seized control of telegraph offices during the 1905 Revolution, and China’s Great Firewall (formalised 2003) still blocks Facebook and YouTube—but Moscow’s 2022-25 squeeze is the first large-scale clampdown inside a G20 economy already at war and under sanctions. The move deepens the post-Ukraine trend toward a ‘splinternet’: nations building sovereign tech stacks (Russia’s “MAX”, China’s WeChat, India’s data-localisation push) and ejecting foreign encrypted services they cannot surveil. Over a century, today’s step matters less for FaceTime’s market share than for the precedent: if major powers can excise secure protocols at will, the open, global internet envisioned in the 1990s may resemble the fragmented, state-run radio networks of the 1930s—functional domestically, but balkanised internationally.
Perspectives
Russian regulator / pro-government outlets
e.g., NewsBytes relaying Roskomnadzor statements — Treat the FaceTime and Snapchat bans as a justified law-enforcement action to stop terrorism, fraud and other crimes. Uncritically echoes official claims without presenting evidence, downplaying the possibility that censorship or surveillance motives drive the decision.
Western tech-industry press
e.g., MacRumors, Macworld — Portrays the bans as an attack on end-to-end-encrypted services and part of Russia’s broader crackdown on foreign technology it cannot easily monitor. Focuses on digital-rights and Apple-centric concerns, potentially minimizing real security issues cited by authorities and reflecting the outlets’ audience of tech consumers and companies.
International mainstream & rights-oriented media
e.g., The Guardian, WebProNews — Frames the move as another stage in Putin’s long-running effort to tighten control over information, drive citizens toward state apps and isolate Russia from the wider internet. Uses language that stresses authoritarianism and repression, which may foreground political critique over the factual specifics of any criminal cases cited by Russia.