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Media watchdog urges Russians to switch to domestic alternatives to Zoom

Earlier, Kommersant daily reported that Zoom Video Communications had prohibited its distributors from selling its online conference services to government agencies and state-owned firms in Russia and former Soviet countries

© Donat Sorokin/TASS

MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) recommended that Russian users switch to domestic alternatives to Zoom video communication app, the press service of the regulator told TASS on Thursday.

"Although the American company Zoom Video Communications has not officially confirmed the refusal to serve clients in Russia, the use of foreign services by our companies and government agencies will always carry the risk of refusal of service by administrations of foreign platforms and the risk of leaks of our citizens data due to their [those companies’] fault," the watchdog said.

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Zoom seeks to evolve approach to CIS countries

"We recommend that Russian users switch more actively to the use of domestic software," the watchdog noted.

It recalled that there is a number of domestic videoconferencing platforms, which are widely used in Russia.

Earlier, Kommersant daily reported that Zoom Video Communications had prohibited its distributors from selling its online conference services to government agencies and state-owned firms in Russia and former Soviet countries. The newspaper cited a letter by RightConf, Zoom’s distributor in Russia and the CIS, to its partners dated March 31.

According to the letter, Zoom Video Communications Inc. is revoking its Russian partner's authorization to sell services to state agencies and companies with government beneficiaries. Reports say that RightConf CEO Andrei Petrenko, confirmed the authenticity of the letter to Kommersant. He also specified that the restrictions apply not only to Russia, but also to CIS countries. That said, Petrenko said that his company would continue working according to existing contracts. A spokesperson of Zoom Video Communications told TASS that the company "continues to be committed to serving customers in the Russian market and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and is in the process of evolving our approach in the region.

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