June 17, 2025

iState: A Russian Government Messenger?


iState: A Russian Government Messenger?
iPhone screen.
freestocks.org from Olsztyn, Poland
, Wikimedia Commons.

On June 10, The Russian State Duma approved the creation of a multi-purpose "national messenger" in Russia that will be pre-installed on newly sold smart devices in the country. Novaya Gazeta Evropa spoke to an internet-specialist lawyer to see how Russians' private conversations and information may be compromised by the new messenger.

Starting September 1, all smartphones and tablets will have a pre-downloaded national messaging app combined with a digital ID system. Head of the State Duma IT Committee Sergei Boyarsky said the national app would allow users to receive government services, verify identity, sign contracts, and execute bank transactions. Educational services and chats will also move to the multipurpose government messenger.

Inspired by China's WeChat, which allows its users to text, pay, and even book hotels from the app, Russia's Ministry of Digital Development wants its own national messenger, but not for its convenience. WeChat is known to surveil and censor users. Lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan fears Russia will store messages and data from the users and send them to law enforcement.

The government has not yet determined which app will be chosen for their project. Russia has attempted five times to create a messenger like the Ukrainian-American created WhatsApp. Meta, the current owner of WhatsApp, has been declared “extremist” by the Russian state The likely candidate for the national app is Max, VKontakte's WeChat-like messaging platform.

Darbinyan said Max or any other national messenger is unlikely to fully migrate WhatsApp’s 97.4 million users in Russia to its platform. And the app will likely only be used nationally, limiting its audience and their communications with people abroad. Unlike other messaging platforms that have end-to-end encryption, Darbinyan said it was likely that Max would have cryptography approved by the FSB. This setup will allow special forces to easily decode any message in the platform. “So it will definitely not be a platform for the free exchange of information,” said the lawyer.

Undeterred, Boyarsky said, "Whatsapp and Telegram will continue to function and live out their century, but now on the condition of unconditional compliance with our laws. They will no longer be able to ignore [the laws], taking advantage that there is no replacement for them." 

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