Starting next month, all mobile phones and tablets sold in Russia must come pre-installed with MAX, a government-backed messaging app seen as a WhatsApp rival, amid concerns over surveillance, the Russian government announced on Thursday.
The decision to promote the popularity of MAX, the new state-controlled messaging app, comes after Russia restricted some calls on WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms, and on Telegram, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.
Control Over Internet Space
The government, which is seeking greater control over the internet space, said in a statement on Thursday that MAX, which will be integrated with government services, would be on the list of mandatory pre-installed apps on all “gadgets”, including mobile phones and tablets, sold in Russia from September 1.
Pre-Installed Apps
It will also be mandatory from the same date for Russia’s domestic app store, RuStore, currently pre-installed on all Android devices, to be pre-installed on all Apple devices, the government said.
An online Russian-language TV app called LIME HD TV, which allows people to watch Russian state TV channels for free, will be pre-installed on all smart TVs sold in Russia from January 1 next year, the government added.
Dispute With Tech Providers
A simmering dispute with foreign tech providers intensified after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with Russia blocking Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, slowing the speed of Alphabet’s YouTube and issuing hundreds of fines to platforms that failed to comply with Russian rules on online content and data storage.
Steady Degradation
Human Rights Watch said in a report last month that Russia has been “meticulously expanding [its] legal and technological tools to carve out Russia’s section of the internet into a tightly controlled and isolated forum”.
Lawmakers have approved a new law that tightens censorship and could have sweeping ramifications for digital privacy, with Russians facing fines if they search online for content Moscow considers “extremist”, including via virtual private networks that millions use to bypass internet blocks.
(With inputs from Reuters)
