The West has been calling Russia's ever-tightening internet regulations on its citizenry a "digital Iron Curtain". Already over a period of months and years of the Ukraine war, various popular US-based social media apps have been throttled and even banned, but this week thingshave escalated with YouTube and WhatsApp being blockedin Russia:
Russia's internet regulator Roskomnadzor has removed"youtube.com"from its DNS (Domain Name System) servers. If a user tries to access the site directly without a VPN (Virtual Private Network), their router can no longer assign the address to its IP address.
This means that You Tube is no longer accessible in Russia. TheWhatsApp domainhas also disappeared from Roskomnadzor's servers. The Russian government has also launched a campaign against themessenger app Telegram,leading analysts to say Roskomnadzor is cracking down on platforms beyond its control.
But perhaps even more impactful - in terms of Russians quickly getting news, information, and public statements (even from their own government channels) - is thenew move to throttle and block Telegram.
An interesting theory,especially in the wake of the shocking Wagner mutiny of 2023...
I still say the Russian MoD is killing Telegram use in Russia because Putin is afraid Telegram will be used as a means to organize a Russian Army Coup attempt.https://t.co/2NvJmKfGOR
Russia’s state media watchdogRoskomnadzorhas tightened the screws on Telegram,accusing the messaging giant of failing to curb fraud and safeguard user data, which ironically is similar to what the French government accused the company of when it famously detained billionaire Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov.
The platform has an estimated over 93 million Russian users, which is more than 60% of the total population, but the Kremlinhopes to replicate with its state-backed messenger,Max. The all-in-one 'super-app' has been described in thefollowing:
Max, a state-backed messenger developed by VK, is being positioned as a patriotic alternative to WhatsApp and Telegram — platforms that in recent weeks have suffered complete or partialdisruptionsto voice and video calls across the country.
Max is further being dubbed a"state app":
Source: ZeroHedge News
