Amid a continued campaign to tighten control over internet access, state authorities have cut off access to Snapchat and enacted limitations on Apple's FaceTime service, Apple FaceTime.
The state internet regulator Roskomnadzor alleged that both applications were utilized to plan and execute acts of terrorism on Russian soil, to recruit perpetrators and carry out fraud along with other offenses targeting Russian citizens.
Roskomnadzor stated it enforced the restriction against Snapchat in early October, although the announcement was publicly disclosed more recently.
These latest moves follow previous limitations imposed on major platforms like Google's YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram service. This wave of bans began in earnest in the wake of the onset of the conflict of Ukraine.
Under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, the government have engaged in calculated and comprehensive strategies to rein in the digital space. This has included:
Service for YouTube was slowed last year in an incident described as intentional slowing by the authorities. Russian officials pointed the finger at Google for allegedly neglecting its servers in Russia.
This summer, authorities tightened internet access with widespread disruptions of cellphone internet connections. The government stated this was required to counter Ukrainian drone attacks, but experts argued another step to assert dominance over the internet.
The government has also targeted popular communication apps. The encrypted app Signal and the Viber service, Viber, were blocked in recently. Furthermore, authorities banned calls via the WhatsApp app and Telegram, defending the ban by saying the platforms were being involved in crime.
Concurrently, the state have championed a dubbed "national" communication platform called Max. Experts view it as a possible tool for oversight. The service admits it will hand over data with officials if demanded, and analysts note it lacks full encryption.
Per lawyer and expert Stanislav Seleznev, Russian law views any platform where users can message as an "information dissemination organizer".
This designation obligates that such services establish a presence with Roskomnadzor and allow Russia's security service with entry to user accounts. Services failing to meet these demands are in violation and can get blocked.
Seleznev estimated that potentially tens of millions of Russians had been relying on FaceTime, especially after voice calls were prohibited on WhatsApp and Telegram. He called the blocking of the Apple service as "predictable" and cautioned that other sites refusing to comply with Roskomnadzor "face blocking – that's obvious."
As another development, the authorities reported it was banning the online game platform Roblox, stating the reason was safeguarding minors from inappropriate material. Per data from research group Mediascope, the platform was the second most popular gaming site in Russia in October, with close to eight million active users.
Although it is still possible to get around a few of these restrictions by employing VPN services, such tools are routinely blocked by the regulator as well.
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