Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal agency for monitoring and censoring mass media, has blocked access to Snapchat and FaceTime in the country. bloomberg The report cites Russian news service Interfax. The restrictions were reportedly imposed because these platforms were used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts” and conduct fraud.
It’s unclear whether any services are still accessible using a VPN, but the ban on Snapchat and FaceTime fits with Russia’s crackdown on communications and social platforms that began after the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Facebook and X were blocked in March of the same year, and Instagram was added to the ban list shortly after. In 2024, encrypted messaging app Signal was also banned, and most recently in July 2025, Russia threatened to block access to WhatsApp.
Engadget has contacted both Apple and Snap for comment on the Russian sanctions. We will update this article if we get any response.
Banning or restricting these platforms is a way to establish control over where and how interactions take place in Russia and prevent the spread of “LGBT propaganda,” if you believe Roskomnadzor’s reasoning for banning Roblox — but it could also be an attempt to push people to use “Max,” a state-run super app that offers services like communications, banking, and document storage. The app is part of a long-running effort to trust Russia’s tech industry rather than foreign companies, and could potentially give the Russian government an easier way to monitor its citizens. the new York Times Report.
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