Deep inside Russia, the world of digital communication is spiraling inward. Russia has already moved to block its citizens from accessing mainstream social media (e.g. Facebook and Instagram), slow down YouTube, and curtail access to messengers, and content delivery networks considered non-compliant with its censorship laws. It is also doubling down on how Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are being used.
In its 2026 Global Report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) describes how Russian authorities have now begun restricting voice calls through WhatsApp and Telegram messengers – even considering a full block of Meta’s messaging app.
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Russian news outlet Meduza reported in August 2025 that the state would be “partially restricting” calls on the WhatsApp and Telegram messaging apps “to combat criminals” and admitted that app users in Russia had apparently begun “complaining about disruptions in their messaging services.” It cited Roskomnadzor – Russia’s executive body for media censorship – as saying these messaging apps “have become the primary voice services used to defraud and extort money, and to lure Russian citizens into sabotage and terrorist activities.”
The move follows a July 2025 draft law imposing fines on ordinary Russian citizens for “intentionally” searching for “extremist” content on the internet. Furthermore, Yekaterina Mizulina, head of the Kremlin-aligned Safe Internet League referred to VPNs as a “total portal into hell.”
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A state controlled and isolated forum
BBC Monitoring in an October 2025 article noted that “the latest restriction is seen as part of a broader tightening of state control over digital communication” in Russia. It added that Russia’s actions against Telegram have even “sparked backlash among [Russian] pro-war commentators” who warned that “cutting off Telegram could harm the Russian military’s own communications.”
Further limiting Russian citizens’ connection to Western communication tools, HRW in a July 2025 article cited estimates that about half of the country’s population “does not know how to use a VPN” and “only has access to websites and services online that are not yet blocked by the Russian government.” It adds that “for many Russian citizens, an increasing number of independent media outlets, human rights organizations’ websites, opposition politicians’ web pages, and foreign social media platforms are no longer accessible, turning into ‘connection timeout’ and ‘this page is blocked’ windows.”
The changes in Russia follow on from what HRW refers to as “a longstanding and meticulous state policy designed to carve out Russia’s section of the internet into a state-controlled and isolated forum.” It adds that Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia prior to and following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 are also “subject to similar online censorship and internet disruptions carried out by the Russian authorities.”
HRW’s Global Report also refers to regular patterns of mobile internet shutdowns across Russia, which it says are “under the guise of protecting public security from attacks by Ukrainian forces.”
Russia blames the shutdowns squarely on Ukraine, with Meduza stating: “The number and scale of shutdowns began to increase in the spring [of 2025], but escalated in June following Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, during which remotely controlled drones (using mobile internet) attacked strategic airfields deep in Russia.”
However, Russia appears to be walking a tightrope with some of its actions, with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) explaining that Russia’s government also needs the same tools it is seemingly intent on banning. In a November 2025 article, CEPA explains that “VPNs keep businesses connected to international systems and allow state agencies to reach foreign suppliers and clients”; furthermore that “instead of an outright prohibition, Moscow has chosen ambiguity – a strategy that suits authoritarian control.”
Max
As Russia continues to restrict access to the more ubiquitous and popular Western messaging services, it has rolled out its own messaging app, Max – launched in March 2025 by VK, the company behind Russia’s leading social network, VKontakte.
Russian news outlet Verstka stated in August 2025 that “in at least 57 regions of Russia, public sector employees and officials are being forced to switch to the Max messenger.” Paris-based outlet Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in November 2025 wrote that “in Ukraine’s occupied territories, the Kremlin’s messaging app Max is building a digital Iron Curtain.”
According to RSF, Max is “only accessible via a Russian or Belarusian phone number, the app blocks communication with free Ukraine and harvests 100 per cent of user data, all while serving as a major vehicle for propaganda.” It refers to the app having experienced a “meteoric rise” to 50 million users – but a rise that is “anything but organic,” especially being backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who reportedly ordered his administration to “accelerate the rollout.”
A BBC Monitoring report putting Russia’s new app under the spotlight said that “despite a wide-scale promotional campaign, Max is facing complaints about poor performance, while activists voice concerns over potential government surveillance.”
Interestingly, and despite suggestions that Max risks cutting Russians off from what might be considered “unfriendly” countries, Russian News Agency TASS published an article about the potential expansion of the app, citing comments from US IT Consultant Jozef Schutzman as saying: “Max has an opportunity to extend its own ecosystem and attract users abroad to its platform to communicate with Russian users.” Whether that is ultimately Russia’s intention remains to be seen given its apparent concerns about “extremist” content from the West.
SORM
Some Ukrainians with friends or relatives in Russia appear to be facing barriers to maintaining contact. One Ukrainian citizen, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Kyiv Post: “I have a grandmother in central Russia. I tried calling her using Viber Out to congratulate her on her birthday, but I think the FSB [Russia’s Federal Security Service] intercepted the call. I asked who was on the line and said that I wanted to speak to my grandmother, but the respondent told me, ‘She’s busy,’ and even tried to tell me he was her grandson. I just hung up.”
In December 2025, The Odessa Journal, citing Ukraine’s intelligence services, described how Russia has imposed restrictions on international calls from selected “unfriendly countries,” which it said are being “presented as an initiative aimed at combating phone and internet scams.”
Russia extensively intercepts domestic telephone calls, internet traffic, and other communications via its System for Operative Investigative Activities (SORM). According to threat intelligence company Recorded Future, SORM has “evolved from intercepting landline and mobile communications to monitoring internet traffic, Wi-Fi, and social media, with the latest iteration (SORM-3) enabling the collection and long-term storage of traffic and subscriber metadata in a searchable database.”
Controlling the narrative
In short, while Russia continues its considerable efforts to spread disinformation and foster uncertainty internationally and domestically, it remains determined to enforce a single, state-sanctioned narrative. The tightening of control over digital platforms and communication channels is not just about silencing what it sees as dissent; it is about ensuring that only the Kremlin’s viewpoint is heard and accepted within its borders.
What the evidence doesn’t tell us is what Russia’s population really thinks and feels about what is tantamount to (or at least fast becoming) an information blackout.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and in the wake of its unprovoked and relentless brutality on civilians, many Ukrainians have questioned how so many ordinary Russians could stay so silent. But with protest banned in Russia, the act of turning a blind eye or choosing to block it all out are two obvious ways to avoid severe repercussions and punishment from the Russian state. The Kremlin’s moves to restrict the flow of information from the West simply makes that easier.