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As part of a sustained campaign to tighten control over online communications, Russian regulators have blocked access to the social media app Snapchat and placed curbs on the Apple FaceTime service, FaceTime.

Official Reasons for the Restrictions

Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor claimed that the two apps were employed to facilitate and carry out terrorist activities on Russian soil, to recruit perpetrators and carry out fraud along with other offenses against citizens.

Roskomnadzor reported it enforced the restriction against Snapchat on October 10, even though the move was publicly disclosed on Thursday.

Broader Campaign of Internet Control

These latest moves follow comparable blocks targeting popular services including YouTube, Meta's WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram messaging service. This wave of censorship began in earnest in the wake of the onset of the conflict of Ukraine by Russia.

During the tenure of Vladimir Putin, Russian officials have pursued calculated and comprehensive efforts to curtail the digital space. Actions have involved:

• Enacting restrictive laws.
• Outlawing websites and platforms that fail to comply with Russian regulations.
• Perfecting technical capabilities to monitor and manipulate online traffic.

Other Instances of Restrictions

Access to the YouTube platform was slowed in the past in a case of deliberate throttling by regulators. Russian officials pointed the finger at Google for not properly maintaining its hardware in Russia.

This summer, authorities limited internet access with extensive outages of cellphone internet connections. The government claimed this was necessary to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks, but analysts saw it as a further measure to increase control over the digital landscape.

Action Against Communication Apps

The government has also targeted popular messaging platforms. The encrypted app Signal and the Viber service, Viber, were banned in this year. Furthermore, officials banned voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, defending the ban by saying the services were being involved in illegal activities.

Concurrently, authorities have heavily pushed a so-called "national" communication platform called "Max". Experts see it as a possible tool for oversight. The app admits it will hand over data with the government upon request, and experts note it does not use end-to-end encryption.

Regulatory Basis and Expert Analysis

According to cyber security expert Stanislav Seleznev, regulations defines any platform where users can message as an "organizer of dissemination of information".

This designation mandates that such services register with Roskomnadzor and provide Russia's security service with access to communications. Those failing to comply are in violation and face blocking.

Seleznev estimated that perhaps a large number of Russians had been turning to FaceTime, especially after calls were banned on other messaging apps. He called the restrictions against the service as "expected" and warned that other sites failing to cooperate with authorities "face blocking – that's obvious."

Gaming Sites Too Affected

As another move, the government announced it was banning the online game platform Roblox, citing safeguarding minors from harmful content. Per data from research group Mediascope, Roblox was the second most popular gaming site in Russia recently, with close to 8 million monthly users.

Although it is still feasible to get around a few of these limitations by using VPN services, such tools are also often blocked by authorities as well.