Russian President Vladimir Putin Photo: AP
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Tuesday allowing the creation of a state messenger integrated with government services as part of the country’s digital sovereignty strategy.
According to Reuters, the initiative is aimed at reducing dependence on foreign platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram, and is another step in the Kremlin’s attempts to replace Western technology with its own developments.
These efforts have intensified since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the massive withdrawal of Western companies from the Russian market.
State developers promise that the new platform will have “unique features” that are not available in Western analogues. However, experts warn that it is likely to become another tool for total control and surveillance of citizens.
“I expect that Russia will deliberately slow down WhatsApp and Telegram to create conditions for the population to switch to the state messenger,” Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Internet Protection Society and a digital rights advocate, said on Telegram.
In his opinion, this will lead to a violation of personal freedoms and rights of citizens.
Over the past year, Russia has already seen a drop in YouTube’s audience – from more than 40 million daily users in mid-2024 to 10 million today. The main reason for this is the artificial decrease in the speed of content uploads.
Russian authorities officially accuse Google of not investing in Russian infrastructure and not unblocking banned Russian channels.
