- Russia has already banned WhatsApp and Telegram
- Users flowed to Google Meet which could also be banned
- WeChat-based Max Platform will soon be pre-installed on a phones
Russia is considering banning Google meeting as part of a wider crash on foreign tech, according to The Moscow times Reporting.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal agency responsible for the country’s media, has already banned voice and video calls via WhatsApp and Telegram, and the country is set to extend restrictions further.
With users seeking alternatives, Google Meet quickly became one of the most popular alternatives – one that Roskomnadzor is now also looking to ban.
Russia forbids Google Meet
Google Meet was recently exposed to widespread disruptions, with over 2,000 individual reports complaining about frozen calls, missing video/audio and unexpected shutdowns, but Roskomnadzor has published some involvement.
“People started experimenting with other platforms after blocking calls in WhatsApp and Telegram, apparently overloaded overload to certain failures,” said the Duma Duma Committee for Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communication Andrei Svintsov in a conversation with Abzats.
“Roskomnadzor has not taken any measures to limit the operation of Google Meet Video Conference Service in Russia, the agency’s press told Interfax,” the News Agency Interfax wrote in a (translated) telegram post.
The post also described Meta as “extremist” that connects WhatsApp with fraud, sabotage and terrorism. WhatsApp had over 97 million users in Russia in July 2025 according to Pakinomist.
“However, applications that can monitor our citizens may transfer information to Western special services, well blocked,” added Svintsov.
Industry analysts expect an imminent ban on Google Meet to bind along with Russia’s promotion of Max, a state -sponsored app that should be pre -installed on all new smartphones from September, based on China’s WeChat.
Max, still in a test phase, has already collected about 18 million users.
