MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. Russia’s media watchdog Roskomnadzor has restricted the access to the Viber messenger in the country for violating national law, the watchdog’s press service reported.
"Access to the Viber service has been restricted due to its failure to comply with legal requirements for information dissemination platforms. These measures are necessary to prevent the threat of the messenger being used for terrorist and extremist activities, recruiting citizens to commit them, selling drugs, as well as in connection with the publication of illegal information," the statement says.
Viber is a messaging and voice communication app developed by Viber Media. It was first released in 2010. According to Mediascope, in October, 26% of the Russian population over 12 years old used the app, with 14% of this audience using the app on a daily basis.
On June 20, 2023 Viber was fined for the first time in Russia. A Moscow court imposed an administrative fine of one million rubles ($9,668) on the messenger for refusing to remove false information on the messenger's message boards about the special military operation.
On March 13, 2024, the Tagansky Court in Moscow fined Viber 800,000 rubles ($7,736) for publishing banned content.