Ban on Foreign Messengers for Officials? Moscow is Yet to Take Decision

The Kremlin has not taken any decisions regarding a ban on foreign-based and foreign-developed electronic messenger services for government officials, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier on Monday, Russian media reported that Russia's Economic Development Ministry had proposed to limit the use of foreign electronic messenger services for state officials and military personnel. WhatsApp, Viber, Skype and Telegram were reportedly proposed for the ban over security concerns over potential cyberattacks and data leaks.

"No decisions in this regard have yet been taken, there is a law on state secrets, which is the foundation for all instructions on working with classified information…There are sufficiently strict regulations of work with classified information already in place in accordance with this law," Peskov told reporters, commenting on the reports.

Using messenger programs and applications for communicating official work-related information would be reckless regardless of the service used, he added, stressing that messengers lack the necessary level of security.

In April, the Russian presidential administration contacted the Mail.ru Group and the Internet Development Institute, proposing to develop a messenger service for Russian government officials. The Economic Development Ministry also reportedly advised the Russian presidency to commission the creation of a government messenger.

Currently, the presidency is unaware of the existence of any Russian messenger, Peskov said, adding that the Telegram instant messaging service may be considered Russian as it was developed by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov.

A ban on using foreign messengers could affect over two million people in Russia. There are nearly 1.6 million civil servants and almost 800,000 military personnel in Russia, according to the Finance Ministry.