139
Russia's State Duma passes bill to create state messaging app as it considers blocking WhatsApp
(kyivindependent.com)
BlyatsApp
this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2025
139 points (96.0% liked)
Technology
71396 readers
3623 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
For those that don't know russian, this would come off as an escort service app. )
Isn't that what Whatsapp and Telegram are already used for?
Blocking whatsapp +1
Having a state messaging app -1
Blocking whatsapp +1
Having a state messaging app -10
State of Russia providing a state-controlled messaging service has got to be worse than WhatsApp, surely 😅
Not blocking telegram though. 😄
Well that’s because Telegram is likely the state messaging app they’re talking about! 😄
Touché
I assume this is just a joke... Because with the relationship Telegram has with the Russian government this would be quite unlikely.
They do love the illusion of safety it produces. Recently it was confirmed TG's infrastructure is managed by the same guys who do this for FSB. Google iStories for the investigation.
The new messenger would probably be Max, a newly announced app from the russian nephew of Meta, Mail.ru, now called VK after they bought this site from Durov. In last ten years they bought many popular sites, educational platforms, started businesses in many spheres. This helps that it's managed by the son of a russian top beaurocrat, so I guess it's on them to take another niche without any competition.
Link to the mentioned story:
https://www.occrp.org/en/investigation/telegram-the-fsb-and-the-man-in-the-middle
I would say the link is bit more tenuous than you would present it. A Russian guy works for telegram with one of his businesses. Other businesses he owns are suspected of working with FSB.
To be sure, Telegram is most likely not very trustworthy but I thought that the fact they developed their own crypto would be suspicious enough so that people wouldn't use it for sensitive information. Still it has not be confirmed that Telegram's infrastructure is run by FSB.
There are, like, a lot of arrows pointing in that direction but not yet connecting. I assume I can draw the missing part myself. But yep, the solid and direct link could've made wonders, but I'm pretty pessimistic about getting it until FSB archives get open to the public, probably after this regime's critical malfunction. That's not even the first question I'd like to research there if that happens.
I still prefer to keep only work communications and mild content there. Some russian expats reported border guards checked their sub list in TG specifically, so I pumped it up with all Z channels in mute mode, I leave reactions there if that matters anyhow to create myself a SFW persona. As long as it doesn't matters if it tracks my geoloc, I think it's better to have it because not having it makes you deviant and easy to point out.
I love Russia and it's precious president Vladimyr Putin, who shares many qualities with the God-Emperor but one: he's still alive.
Why block a popular messenger that has no e2ee by default and shady custom e2ee that doesn't even sync between multiple devices users can optionally use? Sounds counterproductive
Because it isn't controlled by Russia.
that doesn't even sync between multiple devices
Telegram syncs between devices for me. 🤷♂️ Not sure what you mean.
(Yes, I'm in the middle of transitioning away from Telegram. Just gotta export my data first.)
I meant their supposedly secret chats. Last time I've checked they weren't even available on desktop
Ah, yes. That's correct, sorry I misunderstood you. Yeah that's pretty lame that it doesn't work on desktop. I remember wanting to use that several times.
I mean they tried once, did not go so well
Fill it with gay porn
Russia is late to the party. WeChat has been here for a decade. Xi is disappointed.