Russia targets WhatsApp and pushes the new “Super-APP” app with the growth of power outages online

Marina, a 45 -year -old author, has relied on WhatsApp on her work and personal life for years.

But one day last days, it changed suddenly when a call to a colleague had not passed. They have tried Telegram – the application of another common correspondence in Russia – but that did not work either.

It was one of the millions of Russians who face new restrictions imposed in mid -August by the Russian media organizer, Roskomnadzor, on the calls made through the two platforms – the most popular applications in the country.

This timing coincides with the launch of a new “National Messenger” application known as Max and created by a Russian company controlled by Kremlin closely.

User’s monthly numbers are estimated at WhatsApp and Telegram at 97 and 90 million, respectively – in a country of 143 million people.

From parents’ conversations to the collections of tenants, a lot of daily life passes. WhatsApp – whose owner, Meta, an extremist organization in Russia – is specially popular among the elderly due to the ease of registration and use.

In some parts of Russia, especially in remote and few places connected to the Far East, WhatsApp is much more than chatting with friends and colleagues. Browse the mobile phone is sometimes painful painfully, so people use the application to coordinate local matters, order taxis, buy alcohol, and share news.

Both applications offer an encoder from run to end, which means that there is no third party, not even those who possess them, are able to read messages or listen to calls.

Officials say the applications refused to store Russian user data in the country, as required by law, and claimed that the fraudsters are taking advantage of correspondence applications. However, the central bank numbers show that most frauds are still taking place on regular mobile networks.

Communications and many Russians see the campaign as the government trying to monitor those who speak to people and perhaps what they say.

“The authorities, or ordinary people, do not want to maintain any kind of relationships, communications, friendships or mutual support. They want everyone to sit quietly in their corner,” says Marina, who lives in Tula, a city 180 km (110 miles) south of Moscow.

She asked us to change her name, and worrying that talking to foreign media could be dangerous.

The new MAX app has been promoted strongly by pop and bloggers, and since September 1, all devices that are sold in Russia must have been pre -installed.

It was launched by VK, which has the country’s largest social network of the same name. The Facebook -like platform is controlled by the giant oil and gas giant and one of the nearest headquarters for Vladimir Putin, billionaire Yuri Kovaltokok.

Max is scheduled to become a super application, as it combines multiple jobs, including government digital services and banking services.

The WeChat model reflects China – the central life of daily life but also a control and monitoring tool.

MAX’s privacy policy states that information can be transferred to third parties and government agencies, which may allow safety services or make user data vulnerable to leaks.

In Russia, where people are tried to obtain critical comments or private messages, and the black market for personal data is feeding the fraud of fraud calls, this is a real concern.

Although many Russians are concerned about the new restrictions on WhatsApp and Telegram, and by entering Max, the state has already has a huge way to spy on its citizens.

Under the law, you can only buy a SIM card using your national identifier, and security services can access the infrastructure of telecom operators. This means that they can know who contacts him and where you are.

From this month, it is now illegal to share your SIM card with anyone other than soon.

But MAX can allow the authorities to read your messages as well – and avoid the application gets more difficult.

Schools are now obligated to transfer parents chat to the application.

In the Rostov region, which limits Ukraine, Max is adopted as an alert system; In ST Petersburg, it is linked to emergency services.

Despite the batch, Max is still far from his competitors – this week she claimed that she had 30 million users.

The Kremlin has always been uncomfortable with the freedoms provided by the Internet, which is once called Vladimir Putin, the CIA project.

The first legislative restrictions came in 2012, shortly after the protests of the mass opposition, officially to protect children from suicide content.

Ten years later, when Russia launched its invasion on a large scale for Ukraine, the government prevented the famous social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, X, and most of the independent media, making it within reach only through VPNS.

New restrictions continue to come: As of this month, the Russians face fines to “search for deliberate” online for extremist materials – more than 5,000 resources from an increasing blacklist by the Ministry of Justice. Examples include a book by the book of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison in 2024, and Ukrainian songs.

Another ban is targeting ads on platforms related to “extremist” organizations, in fact ending the Instagram advertisement on which many small companies relied as a store interface.

VPNS ads are also banned, and while these applications are used illegal, they may now be treated as a tight factor in criminal cases.

Aside from their problems with WhatsApp and Telegram, many Russians are now used to life without the completely mobile internet, as the entire cities face regularly.

Since May, every Russian region has seen the Internet via mobile phone.

The power outage increased during the summer, with up to 77 areas that hit the closure simultaneously at the peak, according to Naiazi (In contact) project.

The authorities justify the measures by the need to protect people and infrastructure from Ukrainian drones – Kiev in response to the deadly and deadly Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities.

But some experts doubt that turning off the internet via a mobile phone – used by many Russians instead of wide range – is an effective tool against long -distance drone attacks.

Communications expert Mikhail Clearz explains that the local authorities, who were responsible for facing drone attacks, have no other way to do so.

“There are no air defense systems, nor an army – everything is on the line of confrontation,” he says. “Their logic goes: We stopped the Internet and there were no drones, and therefore it works.”

In Vladimir, 200 km (125 miles) east of Moscow, two of the three city regions were in non -contact mode for about a month.

“It is impossible to check buses or time tables,” says Constantin, one of the residents who also asked to change his name. “Information panels when stopping also show errors.”

Taxi prices have increased as drivers cannot accept online requests.

State TV in Vladimir was woven as a “disposal of digital toxins”, which indicates the population who said they have now enjoyed more walking, reading and spending time with friends.

In Krasnoyarsk, a city with more than a million people in Siberia, the Internet via the city’s mobile phone disappeared for three days in July and is still working badly.

Some officials rejected complaints, with the presence of Krasnoyarsk, which indicates that workers from the distance of those who lost their income should “go and work in the private military operation”, as the war in Ukraine is known in Russia. I apologized later.

The government is now working on a scheme that allows the Russians to access vital services online only during closure, such as banking services, taxis and connections – Max Messenger.

This is a dangerous step, Sarkis Darbinian, lawyer and co -founder of the RKS Global Digital Rights Group warns.

“There is a possibility that the authorities will use this procedure for other targets regardless of the fight against drones,” he told BBC.

He believes that the current approach to the Internet towards the Internet reflects Beijing.

“Unlike the Chinese, the Russians spent contracts enjoying the fast and fast internet from foreign platforms,” ​​he says. “These services have become deeply inherent not only in people’s daily lives, but also in commercial operations.”

Currently, those who warn against installing Max on their devices can still find a way to overcome them.

Marina from Tula says that her mother, a teacher at school, has been instructed to download Messenger, but she claimed to her presidents that she had no smartphone.

People can still connect each other using regular mobile networks, although this is more expensive, especially when talking to someone outside – not safe.

There are also other means also available, such as using VPNS or alternative messaging applications, which were previously dedicated to technical and those that deal with sensitive information.

But as government control increases on the Internet, fewer people will find ways to escape from it – this assumes that the Internet is still available to them to try.

Participated in additional reports from Yaroslava Kiriokina