BURSTWhatsApp, the highly popular messaging service owned by Meta, accused the Russian government Wednesday of trying to block its service.
“WhatsApp is private, end-to-end encrypted, and defies government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people,” the company said in a statement posted on the social media platform X.
“We will keep doing all we can to make end-to-end encrypted communication available to people everywhere, including in Russia,” it continued.
Moscow has taken measures to restrict calls on both WhatsApp and Telegram, Russian state media reported. Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor told the state-owned outlet TASS that it was limiting calls on the platforms to combat criminals.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long taken aim at various social media and communication platforms in the country, blocking or restricting access to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok.
WhatsApp is one of the world’s most popular messaging apps with more than 3 billion monthly users, despite its limited adoption in the U.S.
Telegram, created by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov who now resides outside the country, similarly has a greater reach outside the U.S., with more than 1 billion monthly users. Both platforms are end-to-end encrypted.
The recent decision to target WhatsApp and Telegram comes as Putin is set to meet with President Trump in Alaska on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine, a highly anticipated summit more than three years into the conflict.