Roskomnadzor bans Viber in Russia, accusing it of violating national laws and facilitating scams and foreign intelligence operations.
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| Russia blocks Viber for failing to remove illegal content and complying with anti-terrorism laws, citing concerns over scams and extremist activities. Image: Viber |
Moscow, Russia - December 14, 2024:
Russia’s communications regulator, Roskomnadzor (RKN), has officially banned access to the popular messaging app Viber, accusing it of violating national anti-terrorism laws and failing to remove illegal content. The app, which boasts 17 million daily users in Russia according to Telecom Daily, has come under fire for allegedly being exploited by scammers and failing to comply with legal requirements.
In a statement issued on Friday, RKN said the decision was made to curb the use of online platforms for “terrorist and extremist crimes,” drug trafficking, and spreading “unlawful information.” The agency claimed Viber’s operators ignored repeated requests to remove criminal content, including material related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Anton Nemkin, a member of Russia’s State Duma and the parliamentary committee on information policy, stated that Viber owes 1.8 million rubles ($17,230) in fines. He also alleged that foreign intelligence services have used the platform for recruitment purposes and highlighted its popularity among scammers targeting elderly users.
Elina Sidorenko, director of the online safety NGO Bely Internet and member of the presidential Human Rights Council, further underscored the app’s vulnerabilities. According to her, Viber scams have cost Russians an estimated 5 billion rubles ($47.8 million). “Viber didn’t protect its users and refused to cooperate with authorities,” she told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
This move is part of a broader crackdown on online platforms in Russia. In recent years, the government has blocked access to several major social media platforms, including X (formerly Twitter) and services under Meta, which has been labeled an “extremist organization.” These actions have been justified on the grounds of combating disinformation, hate speech, and extremist activities.
Viber, launched in 2010 by Russian-born entrepreneur Igor Magazinnik and Israeli-American Talmon Marco, has been owned by Japanese tech conglomerate Rakuten since 2014. The company has not yet responded to the ban or the accusations.