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In a continued campaign to increase oversight over internet access, 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 Restrictions

The state internet regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that these services were employed to plan and execute terrorist acts on Russian soil, to enlist people and carry out fraud as well as various crimes aimed at the populace.

The regulator stated it initiated the block targeting Snapchat on October 10, although the decision was only made public on Thursday.

Wider Campaign of Digital Crackdown

This recent action follow previous blocks targeting key apps such as YouTube, Meta's WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram messaging service. This wave of censorship intensified after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

During the tenure of Vladimir Putin, the government have undertaken systematic and wide-ranging strategies to control the open internet. This has included:

• Adopting stringent legislation.
• Blocking online services that do not comply with Russian regulations.
• Developing systems to monitor and manipulate internet traffic.

Other Examples of Crackdowns

Service for the YouTube platform was slowed previously in an incident described as deliberate throttling by regulators. Authorities attributed the issue to YouTube's owner, Google for not properly maintaining its servers in Russia.

This summer, authorities limited connectivity with broad outages of cellular data connections. Officials stated this was required to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks, but experts argued an additional move to assert dominance over the digital landscape.

Action Against Messaging Apps

The government has also acted against widely-used messaging platforms. Encrypted messenger Signal and the Viber service, Viber, were banned in 2024. This year, authorities prohibited voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, justifying the action by saying the platforms were being involved in illegal activities.

Concurrently, authorities have heavily pushed a dubbed "domestic" messenger app called Max. Experts view it as a possible monitoring instrument. The service admits it will provide user information with officials if demanded, and analysts note it is not equipped with strong encryption.

Legal Framework and Expert Analysis

According to lawyer and expert Stanislav Seleznev, regulations views any platform where users can message as an "organizer of dissemination of information".

This classification obligates that such services establish a presence with the regulator and provide Russia's security service with the ability to monitor user accounts. Those failing to comply are non-compliant and may be banned.

Seleznev noted that perhaps tens of millions of Russians had been using FaceTime, particularly after restrictions were placed on WhatsApp and Telegram. He described the restrictions against the Apple service as "expected" and stated that other sites refusing to comply with authorities "are likely to be blocked – that's obvious."

Entertainment Sites Too Affected

As another move, the government announced it was blocking the online game platform Roblox, citing protecting children from harmful content. Per data from research group Mediascope, the platform was the second-largest gaming site in Russia in October, with nearly 8 million monthly users.

Although it is still possible to get around a few of these limitations by utilizing VPN services, such tools are also often blocked by officials as well.