Russia restricts calls to WhatsApp and Telegram while tightening internet control | Social media news

Russia accuses popular correspondence applications to facilitate crime and sabotage with the tightening of Moscow’s online restrictions in the war in Ukraine.

Russia has announced restrictions on the audio calls made on WhatsApp and cable Correspondence applications, the latest moves by Moscow to tighten its control on the Internet.

The supplies of calls on WhatsApp is scheduled to affect the capacity of 96 million users per month in Russia and Telegram, which number more than 89 million, according to the service of Russian media monitoring.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Russian media and internet organizer, Roskomnadzor, justified the necessary measure to combat crime.

The organizer said: “According to law enforcement agencies and many appeals from citizens, the foreign apostles and WhatsApp have become the main audio services used to deceive and blackmail funds, and involve Russian citizens in terrorist and terrorist activities.”

“Repeated requests to take counter -measures have been ignored by the Apostles’ owners,” she said.

Moscow wants to provide online correspondence services access to user data upon law application.

“Obtaining calls in foreign apostles will be restored after starting compliance with Russian legislation,” said Roskomandzur.

While the authorities said that only voice calls on the platforms were restricted, as users in Russia also reported that video calls were also affected.

Since the beginning of Russia’s extensive invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has expanded control of the Russian part of the Internet. Security services have often claimed that Ukraine was using Telegram to recruit people or commit sabotage in Russia.

Last month, the Russian government adopted punishing users online to search for content that the illegal authorities consider. There are also plans in a place for the famous correspondence services of a local Russian application called Max, which critics will fear that the authorities will allow the authorities to access data.

A spokesman for WhatsApp said in a statement that the encrypted messaging application “challenges government attempts to violate the right of people to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to prevent it from more than 100 million Russian people.”

In a statement sent to the news agency to Agence France -Presse, Telg said, “It is struggling with the activity of the use of its platform, including the calls for sabotage or violence, as well as fraud”, and removes “millions of pieces of harmful content every day.”

Telegram, developed by the entrepreneur in Russian technology Pavel Duru, is facing long -term accusations in many countries, including Russia, of not doing enough against criminal users.