The FSB wants to monitor users of 12 instant messengers - including WhatsApp, Skype and Wire

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All of them were included in the register of information dissemination organizers (ORI) on December 19 of this year, but it is difficult to say whether they will fulfill their duties.

Photo: collage “Roskomsvoboda” / Canva

On December 19 of this year, another mass entry of Internet services into the ARI registry took place, many of which are not just popular, but are important both for Russians and billions of users in the world. They are mainly used for communication and other communications between people.

It is worth recalling right away that the organizer of the dissemination of information, on the basis of Russian legislation, is obliged to transfer user data, including about their actions and interactions, to the FSB upon request. They must also transmit correspondence, calls and videos.

Perhaps the most significant is the appearance there of the American messenger WhatsApp , which has more than 2 billion users worldwide:

reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109854

It is noteworthy that in the summer of this year, many Russians complained about disruptions in its work. According to experts, this happened due to the actions of the Russian authorities, who tried to test the blocking of popular messengers in Russia, which Roskomnadzor tried to explain by DDoS attacks from abroad on telecom operators. In cases of regional shutdowns, WhatsApp invariably ends up among those blocked, which happened at the beginning of this year and just recently, when they tried to disconnect Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia from the external Internet.

It is also worth recalling that WhatsApp is the only Meta service (recognized as an “extremist organization” and banned in the Russian Federation) that is not blocked . Since 2022, Facebook and Instagram have been sent to the register of prohibited information by decision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

Another American popular communication service, Skype , also appeared on this list:

reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109855

Swiss Wire also got into the company of Skype and WhatsApp:

reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109856

The free cross-platform messenger using end-to-end encryption Element (UK) also became an ORI:

reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109863

South Korean instant messaging application KakaoTalk :

reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109861

The service is popular primarily in Southeast Asia. Messenger is just one of the services owned by Kakao .

Australian open anonymous decentralized messenger Session :

reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109862

It is built on the Oxen ecosystem, supporting end-to-end encryption and minimizing the use of metadata to hide user identities by default.

In the same list:

Mobile application DUST (USA) reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109858

Mobile messenger “Pinngle Safe Messenger” (Armenia) reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109857

Another communication service Status (Switzerland) reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109859

Keybase application (USA) reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109860

Mobile messaging application Trillian (USA) reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109864

Secure messenger Crypviser (Germany) reestr.rublacklist.net/ru/disseminator/109865

Entry into the register imposes an obligation on organizers of information dissemination to store user data, information about their actions and interactions, correspondence, photos, audio and video calls (if any), and transfer them to the FSB. Moreover, constant access of security forces to this information must be ensured with the help of special equipment, which ORIs are required to install at their own expense.

How closely they plan to cooperate with the Russian authorities, and indeed whether the above services are aware of their inclusion in the ARI registry, is unknown. We hope that they themselves will shed light on this story in the near future.