Telegram and WhatsApp in Russia feel the pressure but still dodge the ban

Messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram have avoided Russia's blockade unlike some of the biggest social networks in the world, in a subtle tolerance that experts warn could suddenly end.

Years of tension between Moscow and US companies Facebook and Twitter ended in confrontation following the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with platforms targeting Russian media with state ties, prompting Russia to restrict them in response.

YouTube, which also globally removed media channels linked to the Kremlin, was also facing a direct threat of being blocked on Friday after Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor accused the site owned by the giant Google of “anti-Russian” behavior.

Messaging applications, in any case, until now remain undefeated in part because WhatsApp, owned by Meta, is less suitable for mass communication, while Telegram's ability to disseminate information to huge groups has been useful to both independent media and the Kremlin itself.

“I think it is unlikely that Russia will ban Telegram because there are few platforms where they can operate,” said Sergey Sanovich, a postdoctoral researcher at Princeton University, who recalls that in 2020 authorities aborted efforts to block the service.

Criticized for its lax content policies, Telegram offers Russian authorities a forum to promote narratives related to its internationally condemned military incursion.

Russia still operates accounts on platforms such as Facebook, despite the blocking of domestic service, however the Silicon Valley giant removed posts from Muscovite pages containing misinformation about the offensive in Ukraine.

For its part, Telegram has become an essential space for exchanging news about the war, with accelerated growth caused by the Kremlin's repression of independent media and the blocking of applications such as Facebook and Instagram.

An average of 2.5 million new users joined Telegram daily in the past three weeks, the company said, a jump of about 25% from previous weeks.

- 'Declare war on YouTube' -

However, experts have highlighted the risk to Telegram and its users due to the lack of end-to-end encrypted encryption that potentially leaves the company susceptible to government pressure to misrepresent information.

Alp Toker, director of the web monitoring group NetBlocks, said that WhatsApp has implemented containment barriers that provide isolation against such pressure.

“By enhancing their security and adopting end-to-end encryption technology, they have essentially protected their own platform from legal risks and potential demands for content access requests,” Toker explained.

The use of WhatsApp between two users or in group chats makes the app a minor target for the Russian authorities for now, but that could change if it becomes a key platform for anti-war protests.

“Mainly, Roskomnadzor has been very concerned about channels and news and ways of disseminating information to large groups of people, for which WhatsApp and others are less effective,” says Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

However, Toker points out that the issue has not yet reached a critical point for the authorities, partly because social media platforms, many of them now blocked, played a key role in terms of collective organizing.

“As these (platforms) disappear, dynamics could change and messaging applications would become the next target,” he added.

WhatsApp was one of the most popular applications in Russia during 2021, with about 67 million users or about 65% of internet users in the country - well above TikTok, Russian social platform VK, and even Telegram, according to data from the specialized firm eMarketer.

On that list, YouTube attracted more Russians than any other platform, with 76 million viewers in 2021.

Its popularity was partly due to the access it offered to daily entertainment for Russians, who at the same time represented an audience for politicians and the government seeking their attention.

Sanovich, a researcher at Princeton, opined that the platform simply got on the wrong side of the authorities.

“They have had a hard time controlling YouTube in terms of censorship, and recent YouTube measures make the platform less valuable because it is space for foreign propaganda,” he said.

The lack of a domestic alternative of sufficient quality has also been a difficult factor for the government in deciding what to do with YouTube.

Toker, director of NetBlocks, warned that blocking YouTube means confronting Google and its offering of services, such as Gmail.

“Declaring war on YouTube immediately means declaring war on the rest of the company,” he said.

“Google is an important force in business and a significant connection to the outside world,” he said.

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