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In a continued campaign to exert greater control over online communications, state regulators have cut off access to the social media app Snapchat and placed curbs on Apple's video calling service, Apple FaceTime.

Official Reasons for the Block

Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor stated that the two apps were employed to facilitate and carry out terrorist acts on Russian soil, to recruit perpetrators and carry out fraud as well as various crimes targeting Russian citizens.

Roskomnadzor said it enforced the restriction on Snapchat in early October, even though the move was only made public later.

Broader Campaign of Online Restrictions

This recent action follow comparable limitations targeting major platforms such as Google's YouTube, Meta's WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram messaging service. These measures of censorship escalated in the wake of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

During the tenure of Vladimir Putin, the government have undertaken deliberate and multi-pronged strategies to curtail the digital space. Actions have involved:

• Passing restrictive laws.
• Outlawing digital platforms that do not comply with local rules.
• Developing technology to observe and control digital communications.

Other Examples of Crackdowns

Service for YouTube was throttled in the past in an incident described as deliberate throttling by officials. The Kremlin attributed the issue to YouTube's owner, Google for allegedly neglecting its infrastructure in Russia.

Recently, authorities further restricted internet access with widespread outages of cellular data connections. The government claimed this was needed to counter Ukrainian drone attacks, but analysts saw it as a further measure to increase control over the digital landscape.

Action Against Messaging Apps

Regulators has also targeted widely-used messaging platforms. The encrypted app Signal and another popular app, Viber, were banned in recently. Additionally, officials banned calls via the WhatsApp app and Telegram, justifying the action by stating the services were being used for crime.

Concurrently, authorities have championed a dubbed "domestic" messenger app called Max. Critics view it as a potential monitoring instrument. The service explicitly states it will provide user information with the government upon request, and experts note it does not use end-to-end encryption.

Regulatory Basis and Expert Commentary

As explained by cyber security expert Stanislav Seleznev, the legal framework views any service where users can message as an "information dissemination organizer".

This label obligates that platforms have an account with the regulator and provide Russia's security service with access to user accounts. Platforms that fail to comply are breaking the law and can get blocked.

Seleznev estimated that perhaps many millions of Russians had been relying on FaceTime, especially after calls were banned on WhatsApp and Telegram. He called the restrictions against the Apple service as "expected" and stated that other sites refusing to comply with Roskomnadzor "face blocking – that's obvious."

Gaming Platforms Also Affected

As another development, the government reported it was blocking the online game platform Roblox, stating the reason was protecting children from harmful content. According to research group Mediascope, Roblox was the second most popular gaming site in Russia recently, with nearly eight million players.

While it remains possible to bypass certain of these restrictions by employing virtual private network services, VPNs themselves are frequently targeted by authorities as well.