Deputies of Russia support the creation of a state messaging application. What will be “the main competitive advantage”
Photo: zts | Dreamstime.com
Russia's State Duma voted on Tuesday for the development of a state -supported messaging application to be integrated with government services, in the context of Moscow strives to reduce its addiction to platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram, Reuters reports.
Russia has been seeking for a long time to ensure what it calls digital sovereignty by promoting local services. His efforts to replace foreign technological platforms have become more urgent, as some Western companies have withdrawn from the Russian market against the background of the Ukraine.
Anton Gorelkin, vice -president of the Parliamentary Information Policy Commission, who drafted the draft law, claims that the Russia's application will provide messaging and calls, as well as functionalities that Telegram and WhatsApp A do not have.
“The main competitive advantage of the platform will be the deep integration with the government services,” Gorelkin wrote on Telegram.
In order to become law, the project will also have to pass the Russian Federation Council, the upper Chamber of Parliament, and then be promulgated by President Vladimir Putin.
During a meeting last week with Putin, the Russian Minister of Digital Development, Maksut Șadaiev, proposed the integration of government services with a national messaging application, emphasizing the deficiencies that Russia has in this area in relation to other countries.
He praised the State VK -controlled technology company – whose social media site, Vkontakte, is accessed daily by almost 80 million Russians – for the development of local services, such as VK Video, a Russian rival for YouTube.
VK spent large amounts for content production and improving its technical expertise to increase its audience, registering in 2024 a loss of 94.9 billion rubles ($ 1.21 billion).
In the last year, the YouTube public in Russia has dropped to 10 million daily users, from over 40 million to mid -2024, because lower download speeds have made access.
Russian officials blamed Google for this situation, accusing the American company of not investing in Russian infrastructure and refused to play the access of the blocked Russian channels.
Mihail Klimarev, the director of the Internet Protection Society, a Russian NGO that advocates for digital rights, told Telegram that Russia is expected to reduce WhatsApp and Telegram to make room for the state application, which he warned could violate personal freedoms.
Photo: zts | Dreamstime.com
