Accused Of Being A National Security Threat, Russia's Ultimatum WhatsApp Immediately Leaves

Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the information technology committee at the lower house of the Russian parliament. (photo: dock.wikipedia)

JAKARTA The Russian government has launched another attack on Western tech giants. This time, it was WhatsApp's turn to be targeted. The messaging application belonging to Meta Platforms was touted as a "national security threat" by a number of Russian lawmakers, and was asked to get ready to leave the Russian market in the near future.

This stern warning came directly from Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the information technology committee at the Russian lower house of parliament. In a statement on Telegram, he stated that WhatsApp is likely to be on a limited software list, along with the country's push to reduce dependence on overseas platforms.

"It's time WhatsApp is getting ready to leave the Russian market," Gorelkin wrote. "Meta has been labeled as an extremist organization in this country."

Instead, Russia is now pushing for the use of a domestically made messaging application called MAX, which Gorelkin says could quickly seize the market share if WhatsApp really leaves. Recent data show that 68% of Russians use WhatsApp every day, making it one of the country's most popular communication apps.

This move is part of Russia's "digital sovereignty" strategy that Russian President Vladimir Putin has echoed. In June 2025, Putin signed a law to develop an integrated state messaging application with government services. The goal is clear: replacing WhatsApp and Telegram dominance with local solutions.

This situation is getting hotter after another member of parliament, Anton Nemkin, confirmed that WhatsApp's presence in Russia is a "law violation of national security." TASS state media quoted Nemkin as stating that WhatsApp's fate in Russia could no longer be saved.

Not only WhatsApp is in the spotlight. This week, the Russian parliament also authorized a legal change that allowed the government to impose fines of up to 5,000 rubles (around Rp. 1 million) for anyone seeking extremist content on the internet. What is meant by extremist' including content from Facebook, Instagram, to opposition figures such as the late Alexei Navalny.

This move has even drawn criticism from the pro-government, includingLAY Simonyan, the head of the pro-Kremlin media editor, who said this rule could hinder the work of investigative journalists.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, when asked for comment on the possibility of WhatsApp being banned, stressed that all digital services must comply with Russian law.

"All services must comply with Russian laws," said Peskov.

Real Threats To Foreign Apps

The Russian government has long been ambitious to expel 'unfriendly' state-made applications, especially since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Meta's Facebook and Instagram have been blocked since 2022, and now it's WhatsApp's turn to be threatened.

President Putin recently issued official instructions for all software from countries imposing sanctions on Russia to be subject to additional restrictions. Deadline implementation? September 1, 2025.

If WhatsApp is completely banned, then the government will most likely implement the same strategy as against YouTube. In the past year, YouTube has seen a daily decline in users from 40 million to less than 10 million, after its access speed was significantly slowed down.

Meanwhile, shares of state-owned technology company VK Group, which is developing alternative services such as VK Video (YouTube competitor), immediately rose 1.9% on Friday sequired with the news that WhatsApp will be limited.

Until this article was published, Meta has not provided an official statement regarding the threat of this ban. But seeing Russia's aggressive steps that have started in 2022, it seems that WhatsApp is just counting days in the Russian market unless there is a drastic change in policy.