MOSCOW: Messaging app WhatsApp may soon be blocked in Russia, as lawmakers push for tighter restrictions on digital platforms from "unfriendly countries".
"It’s time for WhatsApp to prepare to leave the Russian market," Anton Gorelkin, deputy chairman of the Duma Committee on Information Policy, wrote on Telegram on July 18. The Meta-owned service is likely to be added to a list of software subject to restrictions due to its ties to Western countries, he said.
Programmes from Western IT companies that have left Russia have long been a thorn in the Kremlin's side. Back in May, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for their services to be curtailed.
In 2021, following a decree by Putin, the Russian government began compiling a list of "unfriendly countries," which initially included the United States and the Czech Republic. It was expanded after the invasion of Ukraine to encompass the European Union as a whole.
In June, the Russian parliament, the State Duma, also passed a law to create its own messenging service. At the time, it was said that government services would also be integrated into this chat programme, likely to be called Max.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, Moscow has massively tightened censorship and control of the Internet.
On Thursday, parliament passed new legislation that makes searching for content that the authorities classify as "extremist" punishable by fines of up to 5,000 roubles (RM269).
Internet resources that criticise the ruling elite, such as The Anti-Corruption Foundation started by the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, are among the sites targeted.
Until now, there has been no legal regulation in Russia that would have hindered the free search for information. Only the creation and dissemination of "extremist content" was prohibited.
Numerous websites, including those of Western and independent media, are already blocked in Russia.
To make it even more difficult for Russians to access content, VPN services are increasingly being blocked. Mobile internet is also being shut down with increasing frequency. – dpa
