Russia ramps up social media crusade in favour of spyware-loaded ‘super app’

Vladimir Putin has signalled his commitment to a blanket ban on messaging app Telegram, including for Russian military personnel on the front lines in Ukraine, independent media outlet Agentstvo reported on Thursday.

The latest escalation comes amid allegations that Russia’s state-backed Telegram alternative, so-called “super app” MAX, is loaded with a form of spyware which can detect whether a device is connected to a Virtual Private Network (VPN), use of which generally indicates an attempt to evade strict Russian internet censorship.

At a meeting with female military personnel ahead of International Women’s Day, Putin agreed with a statement made by Lieutenant Colonel Irina Godunova, who argued that the use of “communications systems that are not ours and not under our control” by Russian troops in the battlefield posed a “danger to personnel”.

Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, announced in February that Telegram would be blocked in the country from 1 April, causing widespread discontent among pro-war bloggers and soldiers who use the app as their main method of communication. However, various Russian officials, including Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev, last month indicated that soldiers on the front would be granted an exemption from the ban.

In a further escalation of Russia’s social media crackdown, the country’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) confirmed on Thursday that all advertising by Russian businesses on Telegram and other banned social media platforms was now illegal, according to state-affiliated business daily Kommersant.

The decision was taken “in connection with the adoption of measures to restrict access to social platforms Instagram and Facebook, video hosting YouTube, VPN services, [as well as] messaging apps Telegram and WhatsApp”, the FAS statement said.