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In a continued crackdown to tighten control over online communications, state regulators have restricted access to the social media app Snapchat and placed curbs on the Apple FaceTime service, FaceTime.

Official Reasons for the Block

The regulatory body Roskomnadzor stated that the two apps were employed to facilitate and carry out terrorist acts on Russian soil, to recruit perpetrators and carry out fraud as well as various crimes targeting Russian citizens.

Officials stated it initiated the block against Snapchat on October 10, though the announcement was only reported on Thursday.

Wider Campaign of Online Restrictions

These new restrictions follow comparable blocks against major platforms including YouTube, Meta's WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram messaging service. These measures of restrictions intensified after the onset of the conflict of Ukraine.

Since Vladimir Putin, the government have engaged in calculated and multi-pronged strategies to control the open internet. Actions have involved:

• Passing restrictive laws.
• Banning websites and platforms that fail to comply with state demands.
• Perfecting systems to observe and control online traffic.

Other Examples of Crackdowns

Service for YouTube was disrupted previously in an incident described as intentional slowing by officials. Russian officials attributed the issue to YouTube's owner, Google for failing to maintain its hardware in Russia.

In recent months, authorities limited online access with widespread disruptions of cellphone internet connections. Officials insisted this was needed to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks, but experts contended another step to increase control over the internet.

Targeting Messaging Apps

Regulators has also targeted widely-used communication apps. Encrypted messenger Signal and the Viber service, Viber, were blocked in 2024. This year, officials banned calls via WhatsApp and Telegram, defending the action by stating the two apps were being facilitating crime.

Concurrently, the state have actively promoted a dubbed "domestic" communication platform called "Max". Experts see it as a possible monitoring instrument. The platform explicitly states it will share user data with the government if demanded, and experts note it does not use end-to-end encryption.

Regulatory Basis and Analyst Commentary

Per lawyer and expert Stanislav Seleznev, Russian law defines any platform where people can communicate as an "organizer of dissemination of information".

This designation obligates that platforms establish a presence with Roskomnadzor and grant Russia's security service with access to communications. Services failing to comply are breaking the law and face blocking.

Seleznev estimated that possibly a large number of users in Russia had been relying on FaceTime, particularly after calls were banned on other messaging apps. He described the restrictions against the service as "expected" and stated that other sites that do not cooperate with Roskomnadzor "are likely to be blocked – that is clear."

Entertainment Sites Also Affected

As another move, the authorities reported it was blocking Roblox, claiming it aimed at child protection from harmful content. Per data from media monitoring group Mediascope, the platform was the second-largest game platform in Russia last month, with close to eight million players.

While it is still possible to get around a few of these limitations by using virtual private network services, VPNs themselves are frequently targeted by authorities as well.