🔗 Share this article

As part of a continued crackdown to exert greater control over digital platforms, state regulators have restricted access to the social media app Snapchat and imposed restrictions on Apple's FaceTime service, Apple FaceTime.

Official Reasons for the Restrictions

Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor claimed that the two apps were utilized to organize and conduct acts of terrorism within the country, to enlist people and carry out fraud and other crimes against citizens.

The regulator reported it took action on Snapchat in early October, though the announcement was only made public on Thursday.

Broader Campaign of Internet Control

These new restrictions come after similar limitations targeting popular services including YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram service. The campaign of bans began in earnest in the wake of the onset of the conflict of Ukraine.

Since Vladimir Putin, Russian officials have pursued systematic and wide-ranging initiatives to curtail the digital space. Actions have involved:

• Adopting tough new laws.
• Banning online services that fail to comply with local rules.
• Advancing technical capabilities to monitor and manipulate internet traffic.

Recent Examples of Blocks

Service for the YouTube platform was slowed previously in an incident described as deliberate throttling by regulators. Russian officials attributed the issue to YouTube's owner, Google for not properly maintaining its hardware in Russia.

In recent months, authorities tightened online access with broad shutdowns of mobile internet connections. Officials claimed this was required to prevent drone strikes, but experts saw it as a further measure to assert dominance over the internet.

Action Against Communication Apps

Authorities has also moved against popular communication apps. The encrypted app Signal and another popular app, Viber, were blocked in this year. This year, officials outlawed calls via the WhatsApp app and Telegram, justifying the measure by saying the services were being involved in crime.

Concurrently, authorities have championed a dubbed "domestic" communication platform called Max. Critics see it as a potential surveillance tool. The platform explicitly states it will hand over data with authorities when asked, and experts note it does not use strong encryption.

Regulatory Basis and Expert Analysis

Per cyber security expert Stanislav Seleznev, the legal framework views any service where people can communicate as an "organizer of dissemination of information".

This designation obligates that such services have an account with the regulator and grant Russia's security service with the ability to monitor user accounts. Services failing to comply are non-compliant and face blocking.

Seleznev estimated that possibly tens of millions of Russians had been using FaceTime, especially after calls were banned on other messaging apps. He called the blocking of the service as "predictable" and cautioned that other platforms that do not cooperate with Roskomnadzor "face blocking – it is inevitable."

Gaming Platforms Also Targeted

As another move, the government announced it was banning the online game platform Roblox, citing protecting children from illicit content. According to research group Mediascope, Roblox was the second most popular game platform in Russia in October, with approximately 8 million players.

While it remains feasible to bypass certain of these limitations by utilizing virtual private network services, VPNs themselves are also often blocked by officials as well.