The State Duma allowed a revision of the position on the issue of WhatsApp in Russia

The decision on the operation of the WhatsApp messenger (part of the recognized extremist Meta corporation) in Russia may be revised, said Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy.

“If the product of the extremist company Meta begins to expand its functionality towards mass dissemination of information, the official position regarding its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation may be revised,” – wrote Gorelkin in the Telegram channel, commenting on the launch of the function of creating channels in the messenger.

September 13 WhatsApp announced about the global launch of the channel feature in more than 150 countries. The messenger indicates a high level of privacy – outsiders will not be able to see the channels to which the user has subscribed. Information about admins and subscribers will also be protected. The channel catalog has an automatic filter based on the user’s country. Users will be able to leave emojis in channels; they will only have access to information about the total number of reactions. Messages from channels can be forwarded to groups and chats, they will contain a link to the channel itself.

On March 21, 2022, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow recognized the American company Meta as an extremist organization and banned its activities in Russia. Instagram and Facebook were blocked, but the ban did not extend to the messenger. In June, when WhatsApp introduced the channels feature, Gorelkin was already wondering whether the decision to block the messenger would be reconsidered. He recalled that an exception was made for WhatsApp because the authorities considered it a means of communication and not a means of disseminating information.

June 16 lava of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) notedthat the issue of blocking the messenger in Russia is not discussed and there are no prerequisites for this. On June 20 he did statement that there are no plans to limit instant messengers for personal communication.