Russia officially bans WhatsApp: Reasons and details

In a new escalation in the digital battle for dominance, Russia officially banned the popular messaging app WhatsApp Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who confirmed to reporters on Thursday that the decision "has been made and is already in effect."

Reasons for the ban: between law and national security

Peskov explained that the ban was not arbitrary, but rather a direct result of WhatsApp's failure to comply with Russian law and regulations regarding data and censorship. This move culminates a series of threats and restrictions issued by Moscow in recent months.

For its part, the Russian communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, offered serious security justifications for the decision. In previous statements, the agency accused the app of becoming a breeding ground for "preparing and carrying out terrorist acts in the country," as well as being used in large-scale scams targeting Russian citizens, noting that the app had failed to combat these cybercrimes.

Context of the conflict with "Meta" and historical background

This decision cannot be separated from the broader context of the strained relationship between Moscow and Meta (the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp). Since the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine in 2022, a Russian court has designated Meta as an "extremist organization," leading to the immediate banning of Facebook and Instagram. WhatsApp, however, remained available for longer as a private communication tool rather than a platform for disseminating public information, but recent security pressures have altered this dynamic.

For years, Russia has been striving to promote what it calls a "sovereign internet," imposing laws that require technology companies to store Russian user data within Russian territory, which has been a major point of contention with Western companies.

Expected impact and available alternatives

This decision has far-reaching implications at the local and regional levels:

• Locally: Millions of Russian users will be forced to look for immediate alternatives. The biggest expected beneficiaries are the Telegram app, founded by Russian Pavel Durov, and the local VKontakte app, which are indirectly supported by the Russian digital infrastructure.
• Internationally: This decision deepens Russia’s digital isolation from the West and further complicates Russians’ communication with the outside world, reinforcing the concept of a “digital iron curtain” that has begun to take clear shape in recent years.

It is worth noting that Russian authorities had already begun restricting calls made through the platform in some areas since last August, as a preliminary step towards this comprehensive ban, which is part of a broader campaign against social media networks owned by Western companies.