Moscow, 14 December 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Russian authorities have blocked the messaging service Viber due to alleged legal violations by the operator, the Russian telecommunications regulator Roskomnadtsor said late on Friday.

The regulator said the messenger, owned by Japanese multi-national Rakuten, has been used for terrorist and extremist purposes, drug sales and the dissemination of misinformation.

Prosecutors have investigated Viber over the dissemination of "information to destabilize the political and social order in Russia," state news agency TASS reported.

Viber was not immediately available to comment.

Since 2018, operators of communication platforms in Russia have been required to store private user data such as calls, messages, photographs and videos and make them available to the intelligence services upon request.

Since the start of the war against Ukraine, Russian authorities have further tightened censorship in the country.

Viber itself was fined last year for allegedly discrediting the Russian armed forces because the service did not delete information about the war as ordered by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.

Russia has already blocked a number of well-known messaging and social networks in the country. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Signal cannot be accessed in Russia without a VPN (Virtual Private Network).

Photo: MIA archive