Security News > 2023 > March > Russia bans private messaging apps owned by foreign entities
Russia's internet watchdog agency Roskomnadzor is warning that today is the first day that laws banning the use of many foreign private messaging applications in the country come into force.
The law is "On information, information technology, and information protection," specifically Part 8-10 of Article 10, which prohibits Russian organizations from using information exchange systems owned by foreign entities.
"The law establishes a ban for a number of Russian organizations on the use of foreign messengers used for exchanging messages exclusively between their users, in which the sender determines the recipients of messages and does not provide for placement by Internet users publicly available information on the Internet)," warns Roskomnadzor in a translated alert published today on its portal.
Viber - VoIP and instant messaging app owned by a Japanese tech conglomerate since 2017.
The current ban does not appear to be an effort to curb the influx of foreign information that could shape the opinion of the local population, but rather a precaution to prevent leaks to foreign entities.
Russia is very cautious and actively limiting the deployment of foreign software in critical sectors to minimize the chances of sensitive information reaching foreign intelligence.