Russia Blocks FaceTime and Snapchat

Dasha Litvinova, reporting for the AP:

Russian authorities said Thursday they have imposed restrictions on Apple’s video calling service FaceTime, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet and communications online. State internet regulator Roskomnadzor alleged in a statement that the service is being “used to organize and conduct terrorist activities on the territory of the country, to recruit perpetrators (and) commit fraud and other crimes against our citizens.” Apple did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

The Russian regulator also announced that it has blocked Snapchat, a messaging app for sharing photos, videos and text messages, citing the same grounds it gave for restricting FaceTime. It said that it took the action Oct. 10 even though it only reported the move on Thursday.

I’m sure the crime rate in Russia will soon plummet. (I’m curious why iMessage isn’t blocked too.)

Update: A DF reader in Russia, who has sent me feedback before, told me that iMessage still works (and in fact told me via iMessage), but that it likely hasn’t been blocked because it isn’t widely used there. (He said that his chat with me is his one and only iMessage thread.) FaceTime, on the other hand, is quite popular in Russia. Or at least it was.

★ Sunday, 7 December 2025