Roskomnadzor has limited access to Viber messenger throughout Russia. about this reported press service of the department.
The reason for this was “violation of the requirements of Russian legislation.”
Roskomnadzor emphasizes that Viber is used for “terrorist and extremist purposes”, in particular to recruit Russians, sell drugs and “publish illegal information”.
In the materials of the administrative violation case filed against Viber, it is stated that the operator of the messenger, Viber Media Sarl, did not delete prohibited data, despite requests from Roskomnadzor. Previously Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office discovered Dissemination of false information of public importance, as well as messages calling for participation in mass protests without prior approval from authorities.
According to the latest data from Mediascope, Viber takes third place in the list of popular messengers among Russians (only Telegram and WhatsApp are ahead). More than a quarter (26%) of the Russian population over the age of 12 uses messenger, and 14% of them daily.
Popular among scammers
Anton Nemkin, a member of the Duma Information Policy Committee, told socialbites.ca that Viber is very popular among scammers.
“Viber allows you to exchange messages, calls and multimedia content without having to verify your identity through strict security systems. The ease of signing up with a phone number makes it a useful tool for quickly creating new accounts, which allows attackers to easily change profiles and numbers for a new wave of attacks,” the deputy explained.
The messenger can also be used by foreign intelligence services to recruit people.
“Encrypting messages in Viber allows us to minimize the risk of eavesdropping on correspondence, which makes this channel suitable for such operations. And in this case, young people are the victims the most,” added Nemkin.
Voice and video calls can also be made on Viber while maintaining a high level of privacy. The use of anonymous profiles and temporary phone numbers helps criminals hide their identities.
“The distribution of prohibited content is not regulated there. Viber has been fined multiple times by Russian courts for refusing to remove illegal information. “The fines imposed in the last two years have exceeded 1.8 million rubles and have still not been paid,” the MP reminded.
Who else was sent to be banned
On December 4, Roskomnadzor limited access Popular sites to watch anime: jut.su, animego.org, yummyanime.tv and amedia.site. The Ministry explained that the relevant decision was taken due to the spread of LGBT propaganda by services (the LGBT International Social Movement is considered extremist and terrorist, banned in the Russian Federation) and pedophilia.
7 December Roskomnadzor disabled Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia from the world internet. The Central Bank Information Security Department announced that the closures were carried out as part of an exercise. Roskomnadzor spent Do them at the beginning of the month in case Runet is disconnected from the global network due to external influence.
“The purpose of the exercise is to verify the readiness of the Russian Internet infrastructure to ensure the availability of important foreign and Russian services in the event of intentional external influence,” the ministry said.
Roskomnadzor reminded that the stability of the Russian section of the Internet is checked annually.
What are you thinking?
Source: Gazeta
Jackson Ruhl is a tech and sci-fi expert, who writes for “Social Bites”. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of technology and science fiction.