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Amid a ongoing campaign to exert greater control over digital platforms, Russian regulators have cut off access to Snapchat and enacted limitations on the Apple video calling service, Apple FaceTime.

Official Justifications for the Block

The regulatory body Roskomnadzor stated that the two apps were employed to facilitate and carry out terrorist acts on Russian soil, for recruiting individuals and carry out fraud along with other offenses targeting Russian citizens.

Roskomnadzor reported it enforced the restriction targeting Snapchat on October 10, although the announcement was only made public more recently.

Broader Context of Internet Control

These new restrictions follow comparable limitations imposed on major platforms including YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram messaging service. These measures of censorship began in earnest following the 2022 military action of Ukraine.

Under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, the government have pursued systematic and wide-ranging efforts to curtail the open internet. Actions have involved:

• Adopting tough new laws.
• Outlawing websites and platforms that refuse to cooperate with local rules.
• Perfecting technology to monitor and manipulate internet traffic.

Recent Examples of Blocks

Service for the YouTube platform was throttled last year in a case of intentional slowing by regulators. Russian officials attributed the issue to Google for failing to maintain its servers in Russia.

This summer, authorities tightened internet access with extensive outages of cellphone internet connections. The government claimed this was needed to prevent drone strikes, but critics saw it as an additional move to increase control over the internet.

Action Against Communication Apps

The government has also moved against popular messaging platforms. Encrypted messenger Signal and the Viber service, Viber, were blocked in recently. This year, officials banned voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, explaining the measure by saying the two apps were being facilitating criminal activities.

Simultaneously, authorities have heavily pushed a so-called "domestic" communication platform called "Max". Experts see it as a potential tool for oversight. The service openly declares it will share user data with the government if demanded, and analysts note it is not equipped with end-to-end encryption.

Regulatory Basis and Analyst Analysis

Per cyber security expert Stanislav Seleznev, the legal framework views any platform where users can message as an "organizer of dissemination of information".

This designation requires that such services establish a presence with Roskomnadzor and grant the FSB with entry to communications. Services failing to meet these demands are breaking the law and face blocking.

Seleznev estimated that perhaps many millions of users in Russia had been using FaceTime, particularly after calls were banned on WhatsApp and Telegram. He called the restrictions against the service as "predictable" and stated that other platforms failing to cooperate with authorities "face blocking – that's obvious."

Entertainment Platforms Too Targeted

In a related development, the authorities also said it was banning the online game platform Roblox, citing child protection from harmful content. Per data from research group Mediascope, Roblox was the second most popular gaming site in Russia recently, with close to eight million monthly users.

Although it is still feasible to bypass certain of these limitations by using VPN services, VPNs themselves are frequently targeted by officials as well.