Technology & Science
Russia Imposes Nationwide WhatsApp Ban, Drives Users Toward State-Run “Max” Messenger
On 12 Feb 2026, Moscow removed WhatsApp from Roskomnadzor’s domain registry, cutting service for about 100 million Russian users and telling them to migrate to the government-backed Max app.
Focusing Facts
- WhatsApp counted roughly 100 million active users in Russia at the time of the block, according to Meta statements.
- Russia’s internet regulator deleted WhatsApp-related domain records on 11 Feb 2026, meaning the service now works only through VPN work-arounds inside the country.
- Since January 2025, all smartphones sold in Russia must ship with Max pre-installed under a government mandate.
Context
States have tried to seal information borders before—from Soviet jamming of BBC and Voice of America (1948-1988) to China’s ‘Great Firewall’ rollout in the early 2000s—but the Kremlin’s 2026 WhatsApp shutdown marks a leap: for the first time a major nuclear power is disconnecting 100 million citizens from the world’s dominant encrypted messenger during an active shooting war. The move fits a two-decade trend toward ‘splinternet’ fragmentation, where security laws, data-localization demands, and wartime control override the post-1990s assumption of a single open web. Whether Max succeeds matters less than the precedent: if large populations can be herded onto state-readable platforms, other anxious governments—from Ankara to Delhi—may feel emboldened. On a 100-year horizon this episode could be remembered the way 1917’s nationalization of the Russian telegraph is—as a watershed when a government asserted sovereign command over a new communications backbone, signaling that the liberal, global internet era was a historical interlude rather than an endpoint.
Perspectives
Russian state officials and pro-government outlets
Russian state officials and pro-government outlets — Present the WhatsApp ban as a lawful enforcement action after Meta refused to follow Russian data-localisation rules and highlight Max as a perfectly acceptable national replacement. Frames the clamp-down as routine regulatory compliance while downplaying or denying critics’ claims of surveillance and wartime information control.
Western tech press and international media
Western tech press and international media — Describe the move as an authoritarian attempt to drive more than 100 million Russians onto an unencrypted, state-surveillance app and warn it endangers privacy and safety. Relies largely on statements from Meta, Telegram and unnamed critics, reinforcing a familiar narrative of Russian repression while offering little space for Moscow’s security arguments.
Indian mainstream media outlets
Indian mainstream media outlets — Use Russia’s WhatsApp ban to examine whether a similar crackdown is feasible in India, stressing national tech sovereignty but calling the answer 'complicated'. Turns a foreign censorship story into a domestic what-if, which can sensationalise India’s own tussles with Big Tech without fully assessing the human-rights costs shown in Russia.