(Washington) WhatsApp and Telegram messengers have so far been spared blockages by Russian authorities which have hit their foreign competitors, but remain suspended, according to experts.
Posted at 7:56 a.m.
Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have been successively deactivated in Russia, while TikTok has, on its own, suspended the ability to upload new content.
The blockages were carried out in application of two texts strictly regulating the information disseminated on the war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia. These were adopted by the Russian Parliament and ratified by President Vladimir Putin in early March.
The dissemination of information aimed at “discrediting” the Russian armed forces is now punishable by 15 years in prison. “Calls to impose sanctions on Russia” are also subject to prosecution, according to the texts.
“I think it’s unlikely that Russia will ban Telegram, because they lack platforms to operate on,” said Princeton University researcher Sergei Sanovich.
Criticized for the lack of moderation of its content, even if it claims to devote several hundred of its employees to it, messaging thus offers one of the rare major channels for pro-Russian speeches which are framed on other major foreign social networks.
Having become a preferred destination since the start of the war, Telegram indicates that it has recorded 2.5 million daily downloads for the past three weeks.
Not to mention that the government has already tried, without success, to ban the application in 2018, after its leaders refused to communicate certain user data.
“It’s very difficult to block Telegram,” warns Enrique Dans, a professor specializing in information systems at IE Business School in Madrid. Aware of its failure after having blocked the addresses of the site, Russia had lifted the sanctions in 2020.
YouTube next?
But specialists warn that if Telegram finally gives in, the government could get their hands on part of the exchanges between users because their encryption is not activated by default.
On the other hand, “by improving its security and adopting end-to-end encryption”, WhatsApp has “protected its platform from legal risks and possible requests for access to its content”, advances Alp Toker, director of the site. NetBlocks internet standby.
Russia’s telecom regulator “Roskomnadzor has been mostly concerned about channels, information and ways to get it out to a lot of people, which is less effective on WhatsApp,” according to Eva Galpering, cybersecurity director for the EFF foundation (Electronic Frontier Foundation).
Due to its model restricted to messaging, WhatsApp appears relatively protected from the Russian authorities, but this could change if it were massively used by protesters and opponents.
But “as social networks disappear, the dynamic could change and messengers become the next target,” warns Alp Toker.
WhatsApp is one of the most popular apps in Russia, with 67 million users at the end of 2021, according to Insider Intelligence, more than Telegram (28) or even VK (63), the reference Russian social network.
Before messaging, could come the turn of YouTube, which was accused Friday of being “anti-Russian” by Roskomnadzor.
“They are struggling to control YouTube in terms of censorship,” according to Sergei Sanovich, and recent decisions “by the online video service to suspend channels linked to media close to the government, have diminished its value as a propaganda tool.”
However, “declaring war on YouTube would be tantamount to attacking the whole group”, underlines Alp Toker, or “Google is a major economic player and an important connection to the outside world. »