Russian dictator vladimir putin has instructed his government to develop measures by September 1, 2025, to limit the use of foreign software in the aggressor country of the russian federation, including messengers developed in the so-called "unfriendly countries." WhatsApp and Telegram may be under the sights. This is stated in a message from the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) of Ukraine.
Thus, according to the FIS, the WhatsApp messenger, owned by the Meta company (recognized as extremist in russia), has come under special attention, which makes it one of the main candidates for potential blocking. The situation with Telegram is also ambiguous. Its supposedly "independent" position and refusal to cooperate with the authorities make its status uncertain.
In addition, the authorities of the aggressor country have already created a new element of the centralized digital surveillance system - the Max messenger from VK. The FIS said that all officials in the russian federation have already been ordered to switch to Max.
"The application (Max) has full access to the microphone, camera, contacts, geolocation and files. It is not turned off by standard means, uses root access and system jar files - signs of malware. Data is automatically transmitted to servers associated with VK, which is controlled by the russian special services," the intelligence officers told about its "advantages".
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the aggressor country of russia, among other things, is preparing to tighten sanctions against the WhatsApp and Telegram messengers. This will happen after the "national messenger" Max starts operating in the russian federation.
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