Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Communications (Roskomnadzor) has announced the phased introduction of restrictions against WhatsApp, owned by Meta (designated as an extremist organization in Russia), due to what the agency describes as systematic violations of Russian law. The statement was reported by TASS.
According to Roskomnadzor, the messaging service is being used to organize and coordinate terrorist activities within Russia, recruit perpetrators, and conduct fraudulent schemes and other crimes targeting citizens.
The regulator stated that WhatsApp continues to ignore official requests aimed at preventing criminal activity and ensuring information security. As a result, Roskomnadzor is already imposing step-by-step restrictions on the platform and plans to further tighten them.
The agency emphasized that the messenger may be fully blocked if it continues to fail to comply with Russian legislation. “The gradual degradation of WhatsApp call functionality began in August, as Roskomnadzor previously reported to the media,” the statement said. This approach, according to the regulator, is intended to give users time to transition to alternative services. Citizens are advised to consider the risk of WhatsApp becoming completely unavailable and to switch to “national messengers.”
Over the past 24 hours, Russian users have been reporting widespread issues with the app, including delays in sending messages, photos, videos, and audio files.
In August, Roskomnadzor began blocking call features in both WhatsApp and Telegram, citing failure to meet requirements related to preventing illegal activity and insufficient cooperation with Russian authorities. The phased blocking targeted VoIP functionality, while text and voice messages remained available.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities continue actively promoting the national messenger Max as an alternative to foreign platforms.
