Russia has fully blocked Meta-owned social media platform WhatsApp in the country, according to the statement issued by the messaging app on Thursday, February 12. Mark Zuckerberg's company claimed that the Russian government was trying to isolate over 100 million users from "private and secure communication" to push a state-owned surveillance application.
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This came during the ongoing war with Ukraine, where the Vladimir Putin government are promoting citizens to use their state-backed rival social media application named 'MAX', which WhatsApp claimed is an attempt to track users and compromise their data.
"Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia. We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected," WhatsApp said in a post on X.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told TASS in a video published by the state news agency on Wednesday, said, "This is again a question of fulfilling the legislation. If the Meta corporation fulfils this and enters into dialogue with Russian authorities, then we have the possibility of reaching an agreement."
"If the corporation (Meta) sticks to an uncompromising position and, I would say, shows itself unready to align with Russian legislation, then there is no chance."