Messenger will not work in all of Russia starting Friday, December 13. reported 24 Channels Referring to Russian mass media.

What is known about blocking Viber in Russia

As Roskomnadzor explains, Viber allegedly violates laws, the implementation of which is necessary “to prevent threats of using the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes.”

They also note the threat of “recruiting citizens to commit these crimes, selling drugs, and being linked to the publication of illegal information.” Interestingly, the Russians had a lot of problems with this messenger.

According to Russian media, in the summer of 2023, Viber was fined for refusing to remove “fake” content related to the military. In court, a representative of the messenger stated that the content was not available for users in Russia.

Also, according to published information, in March 2024, the court fined the messenger 800,000 rubles for publishing banned content. On the other hand, State Duma deputy Anton Nemkin noted that it is claimed that these fines have not yet been paid.

According to him, in the last two years their total amount has exceeded 1.8 million rubles, which is equivalent to about 17 thousand dollars. Meanwhile, in early December, Russia complained about a large-scale malfunction in the Viber application. It was assumed that this might be related to the restrictions imposed by the authorities on the work of journalists.