- Russia has already banned WhatsApp and Telegram
- Users flocked to Google Meet, which could also get banned
- WeChat-based Max platform will come pre-installed on an phones soon
Russia is considering banning Google Meet as part of a broader crackdown on foreign tech, according to The Moscow Times reporting.
Roskomnadzor, Russia’s federal agency responsible for the country’s media, has already banned voice and video calls via WhatsApp and Telegram, and the country is set to expand restrictions even further.
With users seeking alternatives, Google Meet quickly became one of the most popular alternatives – one that Roskomnadzor is now also looking to ban.
Russia bans Google Meet
Google Meet recently faced widespread disruptions, with over 2,000 individual reports complaining about frozen calls, missing video/audio and unexpected shutdowns, however Roskomnadzor has publicly denied any involvement.
“People started experimenting with other platforms after blocking calls in WhatsApp and Telegram, apparently, overloads led to certain failures,” Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications Andrei Svintsov said in a conversation with Abzats.
“Roskomnadzor has not taken any measures to restrict the operation of the Google Meet video conferencing service in Russia, the agency’s press told Interfax,” news agency Interfax wrote in a (translated) Telegram post.
The post also described Meta as “extremist,” linking WhatsApp with fraud, sabotage and terrorism. WhatsApp had over 97 million users in Russia in July 2025 according to Reuters.
“However, applications that can monitor our citizens, transfer information to Western special services, may well be blocked,” Svintsov added.
Industry analysts are expecting an imminent ban on Google Meet to tie in with Russia’s promotion of Max, a state-backed app set to be pre-installed on all new smartphones from September, based on China’s WeChat.
Max, which is still in a testing phase, has amassed around 18 million users already.
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