Russia's Digital Iron Curtain: WhatsApp next on the chopping block

• Russia's communications regulator threatens a full block of WhatsApp
• The move is part of a broader crackdown on internet freedoms
• WhatsApp has an estimated 97 million users in Russia

Russia has escalated its clampdown on internet freedom, with the country's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, threatening a complete ban on the popular messaging service WhatsApp.

As reported by the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, the agency has accused the Meta-owned platform of being used for "organising and carrying out terrorist activity," and for failing to comply with Russian law.

This is the latest in a series of moves by the Kremlin to control the flow of information within its borders, a trend that has been escalating since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.