U.S. Tech Firms and Authoritarian Regimes

Russian authorities have fully blocked Meta‑owned WhatsApp for users inside the country, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirming the move and saying it followed the platform’s refusal to comply with Russian data‑retention and access laws. The block comes after regulator Roskomnadzor added WhatsApp in late 2024 to its register of “information disseminators,” which must store personal data and message content in Russia and provide it to security services on demand. WhatsApp, which has more than 100 million users in Russia, called the decision a "backwards step" meant to force people onto MAX, a government‑backed “super app” that bundles messaging, e‑commerce and access to state services and explicitly allows data‑sharing with authorities. Russia has also imposed new restrictions on Telegram, whose exiled founder Pavel Durov says officials are trying to steer users off independent platforms and into a state‑controlled system modeled on China’s WeChat. While Russians can still reach WhatsApp via VPNs, the block tightens the Kremlin’s grip on digital communications and raises the stakes for U.S. tech firms already banned or throttled in Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.