Russia has taken steps to limit access to WhatsApp, the country's most popular messaging app, which has around 100 million users. A Meta spokesperson, the company that owns WhatsApp, confirmed that Russian authorities tried to "fully block" the service, calling the move a "backward step" that isolates users from private and secure communication. The success of the block remains uncertain.
This action is part of a wider Kremlin effort to control digital communications and push forward its "sovereign internet" plan, creating an online space shielded from foreign technology. Officials are actively promoting Max, a state-backed app inspired by China's WeChat, which ...