Russia has begun quietly restricting new user registrations on Telegram and WhatsApp, a move that signals the country’s latest step toward tightening state control over digital communication and pushing citizens onto a Kremlin-backed messaging platform.
According to sources in the telecom industry, Russian operators were instructed to block the transmission of SMS codes and verification calls required for new accounts on the two popular platforms.
The disruption, affecting different networks unevenly, prevents many users from confirming their identity and completing registration. Reports suggest messages are still being delivered to Megafon and MTS numbers, but not to Beeline subscribers.
From “Security” to Censorship by Design
Officially, Russia’s internet regulator Roskomnadzor claims the restrictions are part of a campaign to “combat fraud and criminal activity.” In reality, this policy represents a de facto crackdown on independent communication tools, as Moscow deepens its digital isolation.
In August and again in October, the regulator announced “partial restrictions” on voice calls and functions within both platforms, accusing them of ignoring moderation requests. WhatsApp and Telegram rejected the claims – emphasizing privacy, encryption, and resistance to government pressure.
Yet the timing of the latest interference coincides with the rapid expansion of Max, Russia’s newly launched “national messenger,” promoted by the state as a “secure, integrated” platform tied to government and financial services.
The Rise of a Controlled Ecosystem
The app, developed by VK Corporation, has been pre-installed on all new phones since autumn and now boasts 50 million users. President Vladimir Putin personally endorsed Max earlier this year, calling it a foundation of Russia’s “digital sovereignty.”
Behind the rhetoric of sovereignty, however, lies the architecture of control. Max is integrated with state identification systems, allowing users to sign official documents and share data from the national ID platform – features that may turn convenience into surveillance.
“The idea was never just to create an alternative,” says one cybersecurity expert. “It was to make every other form of communication feel inconvenient or unreliable.”
A Digital Curtain Falls
WhatsApp and Telegram remain Russia’s two most widely used messengers, with 96.5 million and 91 million users respectively, according to Mediascope. Their popularity has long frustrated officials seeking to police online speech and information flows.
Now, rather than banning them outright – a move that could spark public backlash — the Kremlin appears to be eroding accessibility step by step, hiding political control behind “technical measures.”
The result is a slow-motion blackout: no dramatic censorship decree, just a quiet, bureaucratic tightening of screws until independence in communication becomes impossible.
