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Amid a ongoing effort to exert greater control over online communications, state officials have cut off access to the social media app Snapchat and enacted limitations on Apple's video calling service, FaceTime.

Stated Justifications for the Restrictions

The regulatory body Roskomnadzor claimed that the two apps were employed to organize and conduct terrorist activities within the country, for recruiting individuals and commit fraud and other crimes targeting Russian citizens.

The regulator stated it initiated the block against Snapchat back on the 10th of October, though the move was publicly disclosed later.

Wider Context of Online Restrictions

These new restrictions follow similar blocks against major platforms like Google's YouTube, Meta's WhatsApp and Instagram, and the Telegram messaging service. These measures of restrictions escalated following the 2022 military action of Ukraine.

Under the leadership of Vladimir Putin, authorities have engaged in calculated and multi-pronged initiatives to rein in the internet. Measures have included:

• Enacting stringent legislation.
• Banning websites and platforms that do not comply with local rules.
• Advancing technical capabilities to monitor and manipulate internet traffic.

Recent Instances of Restrictions

Access to the YouTube platform was throttled previously in an incident described as deliberate throttling by officials. Russian officials blamed YouTube's owner, Google for not properly maintaining its hardware in Russia.

In recent months, authorities further restricted online access with widespread outages of cellphone internet connections. Officials claimed this was required to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks, but experts saw it as a further measure to assert dominance over the internet.

Action Against Communication Platforms

Authorities has also acted against widely-used messaging platforms. Encrypted messenger Signal and another popular app, Viber, were restricted in recently. This year, authorities prohibited voice calls on the WhatsApp app and Telegram, explaining the ban by saying the two apps were being facilitating illegal activities.

Concurrently, authorities have championed a dubbed "domestic" messenger app called Max. Critics view it as a possible tool for oversight. The service explicitly states it will share user data with the government if demanded, and experts note it is not equipped with strong encryption.

Regulatory Basis and Analyst Analysis

Per cyber security expert Stanislav Seleznev, the legal framework defines any service where users can message as an "information dissemination organizer".

This designation mandates that such services establish a presence with Roskomnadzor and allow state security with entry to communications. Platforms that fail to do so are breaking the law and can get blocked.

Seleznev noted that perhaps many millions of users in Russia had been relying on FaceTime, especially after voice calls were prohibited on WhatsApp and Telegram. He described the restrictions against the Apple service as "expected" and cautioned that further services that do not cooperate with Roskomnadzor "will be blocked – that is clear."

Entertainment Platforms Also Targeted

As another action, the authorities reported it was restricting the online game platform Roblox, citing safeguarding minors from harmful content. According to media monitoring group Mediascope, Roblox was the number two gaming site in Russia last month, with nearly 8 million monthly users.

Although it is still possible to get around a few of these restrictions by using virtual private network services, those are also often blocked by authorities as well.