No, Russia Did Not Confirmed Block WhatsApp or Telegram in Early 2025 — Here's What Actually Happened
“Russia blocked or slowed access to WhatsApp and Telegram since early 2025”
The argument in brief
Claims spread online that Russia blocked or heavily throttled WhatsApp and Telegram in early 2025. This is not confirmed. Multiple independent internet monitoring organizations, including NetBlocks and OONI, found no evidence of a nationwide block or sustained slowdown of either app during this period — even as Russia continued restricting other platforms like YouTube and Twitter/X.
Why it spread
Russia has a well-documented history of blocking major platforms, so new claims about internet censorship there feel immediately believable. The story also fits a broader geopolitical narrative about Russian repression that many people already accept, which lowers the bar for sharing it without verification.
A claim circulated in early 2025 that Russia had blocked or significantly slowed down WhatsApp and Telegram. The verdict is partially false. While Russia has one of the most restrictive internet environments in the world, no major monitoring organization confirmed that either messaging app was systematically blocked or throttled nationwide during this period.
The evidence points elsewhere. Roskomnadzor, Russia's internet regulator, publicly announced ongoing slowdowns of YouTube in early 2025 and has maintained restrictions on Facebook and Instagram since 2022. But it issued no official announcement of action against WhatsApp or Telegram. Freedom House's Freedom on the Net 2024 report, which tracks platform restrictions in Russia closely, did not list either app as a blocked service.
Telegram's history in Russia is actually the opposite of what the claim suggests. Russia tried to ban Telegram in 2018, failed spectacularly after two years of ineffective enforcement, and quietly lifted the ban in June 2020, as Reuters reported at the time. Since then, Telegram has remained accessible — and popular — partly because Russian government officials and state media use it heavily. Blocking it would be politically awkward for the Kremlin itself.
OONI, which collects real-time network interference data from inside Russia, did record continued throttling of some services in late 2024 and early 2025. There may have been isolated, localized slowdowns that some users experienced and reported anecdotally. But anecdotal reports from individual users are not the same as a confirmed, sustained, nationwide restriction — and none of the independent monitoring bodies that track this found one.
This kind of claim spreads easily because the underlying premise is so plausible. Russia really does block platforms aggressively, and its record makes any new censorship story feel credible. That's exactly why it's worth checking. When a claim fits a pattern too neatly, it deserves more scrutiny, not less. Always look for confirmation from network monitoring organizations like NetBlocks or OONI before treating a censorship report as established fact.
Sources
- Roskomnadzor (Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications)
Roskomnadzor announced in early 2025 that it was slowing down YouTube and had ongoing restrictions on various platforms, but no official blanket block of WhatsApp or Telegram was announced as of early 2025.
- NetBlocks
NetBlocks, which monitors internet disruptions globally, did not report confirmed nationwide blocking of WhatsApp or Telegram in Russia in early 2025. Telegram has historically remained accessible in Russia after its ban was lifted in 2020.
- Reuters
Russia unblocked Telegram in June 2020 after a failed two-year ban, and Telegram has remained largely accessible in Russia since then. As of early 2025, no new confirmed block was widely reported by major news outlets.
- Freedom House – Freedom on the Net 2024
Russia's internet freedom score remains among the lowest globally, with ongoing throttling of platforms like YouTube and Twitter/X, but WhatsApp and Telegram were not listed as blocked services as of the 2024 report period.
- OONI (Open Observatory of Network Interference)
OONI's measurement data from Russia in late 2024 and early 2025 showed continued throttling of some services but did not confirm systematic blocking of WhatsApp or Telegram during this period.