Russia restricts messaging platform Viber for national security reasons

MADRID Dec. 13 () –

Russia’s federal communications agency, Roskomnadzor, announced this Friday the beginning of restrictions on the use of the Viber messaging platform, owned by the Japanese multinational Rakuten, for reasons of national security.

“Access to the Viber service has been limited for violating the requirements of Russian legislation, necessary to avoid threats of using the platform for terrorist and extremist purposes,” the agency said in a statement published on its Telegram account.

According to studies collected by the Russian news agency TASS, 26 percent of the Russian population over 12 years of age regularly uses this platform and 14 percent used it daily.

On June 20, 2023, Viber was fined for the first time in Russia, when a court imposed an administrative fine on the platform’s parent company, Rakuten Vibe, for refusing to remove false information about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.