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WhatsApp is now fully blocked in Russia

After warnings from lawmakers last year, WhatsApp has been blocked in Russia for as many as 100 million users, the Financial Times reported. Russian authorities removed the app from an online directory, effectively wiping it from Russia's internet. The government has previously said that it wants users to switch to an app called Max, an unencrypted WeChat clone. <br /> "Today the Russian government has attempted to fully block WhatsApp in an effort to drive users to a state-owned surveillance app," Meta told the FT in a statement. "Trying to isolate over 100 million people from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia."<br /> The Russian government deleted WhatsApp rival Telegram yesterd [...]

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WhatsApp should prepare to stop operating in Russia, official says

A Russian lawmaker who regulates the IT industry said WhatsApp should prepare to stop offering its services in the country. Anton Gorelkin, the deputy head of the lower house of parliament's IT c [...]

Match Score: 106.57

Destination
Russia reportedly bans Snapchat and FaceTime

Roskomnadzor, Russia's federal agency for monitoring and censoring mass media, has blocked access to Snapchat and FaceTime in the country, Bloomberg reports, citing Russian news service Interfax. [...]

Match Score: 106.55

Destination
Russia closes loophole to fully block payments for Apple services

Russia has closed a loophole that allowed its citizens to pay for Apple digital services. "As of April 1, 2026, payment processing is no longer available for purchases made on the App Store or ot [...]

Match Score: 89.51

Destination
Telegram founder Pavel Durov is reportedly under criminal investigation in Russia

Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, is reportedly under criminal investigation by Russian authorities for “abetting terrorist activities.” According to the Financial Times, state-run publication [...]

Match Score: 82.32

Destination
Russia is trying to make its own game consoles in a bid for technological independence

It’s no secret that Russia has been slowly working towards eschewing as much Western technology as it can and developing its own, and its latest effort seems to be related to video games. On Decembe [...]

Match Score: 74.74

Destination
Court reduces damages Meta will get from spyware maker NSO Group but bans it from WhatsApp

US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton has reduced the damages Meta is getting from the NSO Group from $167 million to $4 million, but she has also ordered the Israeli spyware maker to stop targeting What [...]

Match Score: 59.40

Destination
Russia's recent blocking of Telegram is reportedly disrupting its military operations in Ukraine

A decision to ban Telegram on home soil may have backfired on the Kremlin. Last week, Russia went on a blocking spree, banning a number of Western apps in an effort to push domestic users towards Max, [...]

Match Score: 56.64

Destination
How to set up a WhatsApp account without Facebook or Instagram

There's no shortage of reasons to stay off the Meta ecosystem, which includes Facebook and Instagram, but there are some places where WhatsApp remains the main form of text-based communication. T [...]

Match Score: 54.39

Destination
Meta has a plan to bring AI to WhatsApp chats without breaking privacy

As Meta’s first-ever generative AI conference gets underway, the company is also previewing a significant update on its plans to bring AI features to WhatsApp chats. Buried in its LlamaCon updates, [...]

Match Score: 54.25