Russian authorities announced Wednesday they were “partially” restricting calls in messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the Internet.
In a statement, government media and Internet regulator Roskomnadzor justified the measure as necessary for fighting crime, saying that “according to law enforcement agencies and numerous appeals from citizens, foreign messengers Telegram and WhatsApp have become the main voice services used to deceive and extort money, and to involve Russian citizens in sabotage and terrorist activities.”
The regulator also alleged that “repeated requests to take countermeasures have been ignored by the owners of the messengers.” There was no immediate comment from either platform.
A Whatsapp spokesperson said in a statement that the encrypted messaging app “defies government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people.”
Russian authorities have long engaged in a deliberate and multipronged effort to rein in the Internet. Over the years, they have adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that won’t comply. Technology has been perfected to monitor and manipulate online traffic.
While it’s still possible to circumvent restrictions by using virtual private network services, those are routinely blocked, too.
Authorities further restricted Internet access this summer with widespread shutdowns of cellphone Internet connections. Officials have insisted the measure was needed to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks, but experts argued it was another step to tighten Internet control.
Russia’s Digital Development and Communications Ministry said this month that along with Internet providers, it was working on a “white list” of essential websites and services users could access during shutdowns.
In Crimea, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Russian-installed officials said Wednesday that shutdowns of cellphone Internet may last indefinitely.
The government adopted a law last month punishing users for searching for content they deem illicit and threatened to go after WhatsApp — one of the most popular platforms in the country — while rolling out a new “national” messaging app that’s widely expected to be heavily monitored.
Reports that calls were being disrupted in WhatsApp and Telegram appeared in Russian media earlier this week, with users complaining about calls not going through or not being able to hear each other speak.
According to Russian media monitoring service Mediascope, WhatsApp in July was the most popular platform in Russia, with over 96 million monthly users. Telegram, with more than 89 million users, came a close second.
Both platforms had their run-ins with the Russian authorities in the past. The Kremlin tried to block Telegram between 2018-20 but failed. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government blocked major social media like Facebook and Instagram, and outlawed their parent company, Meta, that also owns WhatsApp, as extremist.
In July, lawmaker Anton Gorelkin said WhatsApp “should prepare to leave the Russian market,” and a new “national” messenger, MAX, developed by Russian social media company VK, would take its place.
MAX, promoted as a one-stop shop for messaging, online government services, making payments and more, was rolled out for beta tests but has yet to attract a wide following. Over 2 million people registered by July, the Tass news agency reported.
Its terms and conditions say it will share user data with authorities upon request, and a new law stipulates its preinstallation in all smartphones sold in Russia. State institutions, officials and businesses are actively encouraged to move communications and blogs to MAX.
The Digital Development and Communications Ministry said access to calls via WhatsApp and Telegram may be reinstated if the platforms “comply with Russian legislation.” It clarified that the partial restrictions, announced by Roskomnadzor, applied only to audio calls.
Russia restricts calls via WhatsApp and Telegram, the latest step to control the Internet
https://arab.news/rw7mc
Russia restricts calls via WhatsApp and Telegram, the latest step to control the Internet
- Media and Internet regulator Roskomnadzor justified the measure as necessary for fighting crime
- Russian authorities have long engaged in a deliberate and multipronged effort to rein in the Internet
China’s national security agency in Hong Kong summons international media representatives
HONG KONG: China’s national security agency in Hong Kong summoned international media representatives for a “regulatory talk” on Saturday, saying some had spread false information and smeared the government in recent reports on a deadly fire and upcoming legislative elections.
Senior journalists from several major outlets operating in the city, including AFP, were summoned to the meeting by the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS), which was opened in 2020 following Beijing’s imposition of a wide-ranging national security law on the city.
Through the OSNS, Beijing’s security agents operate openly in Hong Kong, with powers to investigate and prosecute national security crimes.
“Recently, some foreign media reports on Hong Kong have disregarded facts, spread false information, distorted and smeared the government’s disaster relief and aftermath work, attacked and interfered with the Legislative Council election, (and) provoked social division and confrontation,” an OSNS statement posted online shortly after the meeting said.
At the meeting, an official who did not give his name read out a similar statement to media representatives.
He did not give specific examples of coverage that the OSNS had taken issue with, and did not take questions.
The online OSNS statement urged journalists to “not cross the legal red line.”
“The Office will not tolerate the actions of all anti-China and trouble-making elements in Hong Kong, and ‘don’t say we didn’t warn you’,” it read.
For the past week and a half, news coverage in Hong Kong has been dominated by a deadly blaze on a residential estate which killed at least 159 people.
Authorities have warned against crimes that “exploit the tragedy” and have reportedly arrested at least three people for sedition in the fire’s aftermath.
Dissent in Hong Kong has been all but quashed since Beijing brought in the national security law, after huge and sometimes violent protests in 2019.
Hong Kong’s electoral system was revamped in 2021 to ensure that only “patriots” could hold office, and the upcoming poll on Sunday will select a second batch of lawmakers under those rules.
