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In a continued campaign to tighten control over online communications, state authorities have blocked access to the social media app Snapchat and imposed restrictions on Apple's FaceTime service, FaceTime.

Official Justifications for the Block

The state internet regulator Roskomnadzor stated that the two apps were utilized to facilitate and carry out terrorist acts within the country, to enlist people and commit fraud as well as various crimes aimed at the populace.

Roskomnadzor stated it took action against Snapchat back on the 10th of October, though the move was only reported on Thursday.

Wider Campaign of Digital Crackdown

These latest moves come after comparable limitations imposed on major platforms including Google's YouTube, Meta's WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram messaging service. This wave of bans escalated following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Since Vladimir Putin, Russian officials have undertaken systematic and multi-pronged initiatives to control the internet. Measures have included:

• Enacting stringent legislation.
• Blocking websites and platforms that fail to comply with local rules.
• Perfecting systems to observe and control digital communications.

Other Instances of Crackdowns

Service for the YouTube platform was throttled last year in what experts called deliberate throttling by the authorities. Authorities attributed the issue to YouTube's owner, Google for not properly maintaining its hardware in Russia.

This summer, authorities further restricted internet access with broad outages of cellphone internet connections. The government claimed this was necessary to prevent drone strikes, but analysts contended a further measure to assert dominance over the digital landscape.

Targeting Messaging Platforms

Regulators has also targeted widely-used communication apps. Encrypted messenger Signal and the Viber service, Viber, were banned in recently. Furthermore, officials prohibited voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, defending the measure by claiming the two apps were being involved in criminal activities.

Simultaneously, authorities have actively promoted a dubbed "national" communication platform called "Max". Observers view it as a potential monitoring instrument. The app explicitly states it will hand over data with the government upon request, and analysts note it is not equipped with strong encryption.

Legal Framework and Analyst Analysis

Per cyber security expert Stanislav Seleznev, the legal framework defines any platform where people can communicate as an "organizer of dissemination of information".

This label requires that such services establish a presence with Roskomnadzor and grant Russia's security service with entry to user data. Those failing to do so are breaking the law and may be banned.

Seleznev noted that perhaps tens of millions of Russians had been relying on FaceTime, particularly after voice calls were prohibited on other messaging apps. He described the blocking of the Apple service as "predictable" and stated that further services failing to cooperate with authorities "will be blocked – that is clear."

Gaming Platforms Too Targeted

As another action, the authorities reported it was restricting Roblox, stating the reason was child protection from illicit content. Per data from media monitoring group Mediascope, Roblox was the second most popular game platform in Russia last month, with close to eight million active users.

Although it remains possible to circumvent some of these limitations by employing VPN services, such tools are also often blocked by officials as well.