The State Duma of the Russian Federation announced the effectiveness of the decision to “degrade” calls to Telegram and WhatsApp*

The decision to restrict access to calls on Telegram and WhatsApp* has justified itself, the number of fraud cases has decreased “by several times,” TASS quotes the words of the chairman of the Duma Committee on Information Policy, Sergei Boyarsky. He did not give exact numbers.

“Let me return to the decision that was implemented on August 11 of this year, when Roskomnadzor degraded voice calls in WhatsApp* and Telegram. I consider it absolutely correct, timely, and it also brought down the wave of fraudulent actions that were mainly carried out through these two platforms,” said the head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Information Policy.

The deputy said that the Max messenger “implements a completely different security structure” – there is a “special service” for processing user complaints and blocking suspicious accounts.

In August 2025, Roskomnadzor announced a “partial restriction” of calls to Telegram and WhatsApp*. They promised not to block other functions. The decision was motivated by “countering criminals in accordance with materials from law enforcement agencies.” The Ministry of Digital Development explained that access to calls will be restored if the messengers comply with the requirements of Russian legislation.

On October 31, Durov Code and RBC’s source in the information security industry reported that new users of Telegram and WhatsApp* in Russia stopped receiving calls and SMS for registration.

*Meta, which owns WhatsApp, is recognized as an extremist organization in Russia and is banned.

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