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Amid a continued campaign to increase oversight over internet access, state officials have restricted access to Snapchat and imposed restrictions on Apple's FaceTime service, FaceTime.

Stated Justifications for the Block

The state internet regulator Roskomnadzor alleged that these services were being used to organize and conduct terrorist activities within the country, to enlist people and commit fraud and other crimes aimed at the populace.

Roskomnadzor reported it took action on Snapchat in early October, although the announcement was only reported on Thursday.

Wider Context of Digital Crackdown

This recent action are part of similar blocks against key apps including Google's YouTube, Meta's WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram service. This wave of censorship escalated following the 2022 military action of Ukraine.

During the tenure of Vladimir Putin, the government have engaged in deliberate and multi-pronged initiatives to rein in the open internet. This has included:

• Adopting restrictive laws.
• Banning websites and platforms that refuse to cooperate with state demands.
• Perfecting technology to monitor and manipulate digital communications.

Other Instances of Blocks

Service for YouTube was slowed in the past in an incident described as deliberate throttling by the authorities. Authorities pointed the finger at YouTube's owner, Google for failing to maintain its servers in Russia.

Recently, officials further restricted connectivity with extensive outages of mobile internet connections. The government claimed this was needed to prevent Ukrainian drone attacks, but analysts contended an additional move to assert dominance over the digital landscape.

Targeting Communication Apps

The government has also targeted popular messaging platforms. The encrypted app Signal and another popular app, Viber, were blocked in recently. This year, officials banned voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, explaining the measure by saying the two apps were being used for criminal activities.

Concurrently, the state have actively promoted a dubbed "national" messenger app called "Max". Observers view it as a possible tool for oversight. The app explicitly states it will provide user information with officials upon request, and analysts note it does not use end-to-end encryption.

Legal Framework and Analyst Analysis

Per cyber security expert Stanislav Seleznev, Russian law views any service where users can message as an "organizer of dissemination of information".

This label requires that such services establish a presence with the regulator and provide Russia's security service with access to communications. Those failing to meet these demands are in violation and face blocking.

Seleznev estimated that potentially a large number of Russians had been using FaceTime, particularly after calls were banned on other messaging apps. He called the restrictions against the service as "expected" and stated that other platforms refusing to comply with Roskomnadzor "will be blocked – that's obvious."

Gaming Sites Also Affected

In a separate move, the authorities announced it was banning the online game platform Roblox, citing protecting children from inappropriate material. Per data from media monitoring group Mediascope, the platform was the second most popular game platform in Russia in October, with nearly eight million monthly users.

Although it is still feasible to bypass certain of these limitations by employing virtual private network services, such tools are also often blocked by the regulator as well.