- Russia is considering banning whatsapp
- The meta-owned app is the most popular messaging service in the country
- Max, a domestic message app integrated with public services, is installed on each new unit from September 2025
People in Russia may need to find a replacement for WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app across the country.
When he spoke with Pakinomist on Friday, July 18, 2025, the Deputy Head of the Russian Parliament’s Information Technology Committee, Anton Gorelkin, said that “it’s time for WhatsApp to prepare to leave the Russian market,” Meta has been appointed as an extremist organization in Russia.
On Tuesday, July 22, Russia passed a law to punish online searches according to so-called ‘extremist’ content while adding new sanctions to those using VPN services.
How likely is whatsapp to leave Russia?
Russian authorities have not shared any details of how or when the WhatsApp ban will be enforced.
That said, Meta, the provider of WhatsApp, has already been appointed as an extremist organization where two of its other services (Facebook and Instagram) have been banned since 2022.
However, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also repeated the fact that WhatsApp “has certain duties under the laws of the Russian Federation” to be met – reported Interfax.
Another two government sources have then confirmed to Meduza, a Russian independent media output that “there is a 99 percent chance” the WhatsApp block will happen.
The threatening WhatsApp ban comes as the Kremlin develops its own messaging app with public services integrated. From September 2025, Max must be installed on any unit sold in Russia, the Independent reported.
Can a VPN help?
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts users’ internet connections while falling their real IP address. The latter skill is generally used to bypass this type of Internet geo-blocking-something Russian authorities have been trying to prevent for a long time.
From still sophisticated VPN-blocking tactics that cause many VPN services to stop working, criminalized Kremlin even the spread of information on ways of bypassing Internet restrictions in March 2024 and coercion like Apple to remove some of the best VPN apps from its official app store.
Now a new law complicates additional things for VPN users. As of July 22, there are new sanctions for people searching for and gaining access to “deliberate extremist materials”, including when they do it while connected to a VPN.
In addition, legislators have also allegedly adopted a provision that makes use of a VPN to access extremist content – something that whatsApp may be set to be – “a crime as an aggravating factor.”
