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Media regulator does not restrict operation of WhatsApp messenger in Russia — agency

The regulator stressed that interruptions in the work of the messenger are also observed in other countries

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Access to the WhatsApp messenger is not limited on the territory of the Russian Federation, failures in its operation are not related to the blocking of the Facebook and Instagram social networks (owned by Meta), the regulator’s press service reported on Thursday.

"The operation of the WhatsApp messenger on the territory of Russia is not limited. Roskomnadzor (Russian media watchdog - TASS) does not attribute the service failures with limitations of other Meta Platforms resources (Facebook and Instagram)," the agency says.

The regulator stressed that interruptions in the work of the messenger are also observed in other countries and resemble the situation with the failure of Meta's services in early October 2021. Then the company itself took responsibility for the disruptions.

Earlier, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office demanded to recognize Meta Platforms Inc., which includes the social networks Facebook, Instagram and the WhatsApp messenger, as an extremist organization and to ban its activities in the Russian Federation. This happened after Meta Spokesman Andy Stone wrote on Twitter that the company had "temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech, such as ‘death to the Russian invaders’".

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