The experience of Navigate online in Russia is becoming a routine increasingly limited and restricted. For more than a decade the Government of Vladimir Putin has deployed progressive strategies to reduce access to independent content and progressively isolate Russian users from the rest of the world.
In this context, in the last hours Russia announced Restrictions on voice calls made in WhatsApp and Telegram messaging applications. This will affect the approximately 96 million WhatsApp monthly users In Russia and more than 89 million telegram usersaccording to the Russian media monitoring service.
The Internet media regulator of Russia, Roskomnadzor, justified the measure through a statement where he mentioned it as “necessary to combat crime”. “According to the authorities and numerous calls of citizens, the foreign messaging platforms Telegram and WhatsApp They have become the main voice services used to deceive and extortas well as to involve Russian citizens in terrorist sabotages and activities, ”said the regulator.
While the authorities said that only voice calls on the platforms were restricted, users in Russia also reported that The video calls were also affected.
What did the companies involved said
The authorities of the courier companies involved in these restrictions quickly raised their voice.
A WhatsApp spokesman said in a statement that the encrypted messaging application “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to safe communicationwhich is why Russia is trying to block it for more than 100 million Russians. ”
For its part, in a statement sent to the AFP news agency, Telegram said that “CActive Ombate the improper use of its platform, including calls to sabotage or violence, as well as fraud“, And eliminates” millions of pieces of harmful content every day. “It is important to highlight that this company, developed by Russian technology entrepreneur Pavel Durov, faces long -standing accusations in several countries, including Russia, of not doing enough against criminal users.
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The conflict with Ukraine: a great person responsible for these measures
From the beginning of the Russian in a large scale in Ukraine in 2022, control over the Internet was expanding. Security services frequently stated that Ukraine used Telegram to recruit people or commit acts of sabotage in Russia.
It is for this reason that the Russian government approved a law last month that sanctions users online for looking for content considered illicit by the authorities.
On the other hand, there are also plans to replace popular messaging services with a Russian application called Maxwhich, according to specialists, will allow the authorities to access the data.
Source: Ambito
