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The Russian government will require the state-backed Max messenger app to be pre-installed on all smartphones and tablets sold in the country, in a move that could increase surveillance of Russian citizens.
According to an official statement Thursday, Max will be installed on devices from September 1. The RuStore app, a homegrown rival to Apple’s App Store, will also be pre-installed on iPhones. In addition, from January 1, the Lime HD TV program, which provides free access to Russian state TV channels, will be automatically installed on Smart TVs in the country.
Max was launched by the state-controlled social media group VK in March as a replacement for VK Messenger, which has been on the government’s list of mandatory apps since 2023.
The new app allows users to send messages, make audio and video calls and send money, with additional features planned in the future. These will include the integration of a travel booking app, VK said in its latest earnings report.
Around 18 million people have registered with Max since its launch, Russian state news outlet TASS reported earlier this week, citing the platform’s press team.
Max is similar to China’s hugely successful WeChat app, which gives users an all-in-one outlet to message, post on social media and make payments and reservations. User activity on WeChat is most likely under heavy state surveillance, experts previously told CNN.
At the same time, Russia has moved to limit the use of some foreign messaging services.
Russia has already banned Facebook, Instagram and X. And earlier this month, the country’s media regulator announced restrictions on voice calls via WhatsApp and Telegram “in order to counter criminals.” WhatsApp, in its turn, accused Russia of attempting to block access to the app for its 100 million Russian users.
Unlike Max, WhatsApp and Telegram provide end-to-end encryption, preventing third parties from accessing user data.
Russia has attempted to make it increasingly inconvenient to use foreign social media apps, Anastasiia Kruope, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, noted in a report in July.
“This, along with active state-sponsored promotion of Russian alternatives, forced a growing number of users to switch to Russian browsers and social media,” Kruope wrote.
Similarly, Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, senior fellows at the Washington, DC-based Center for European Policy Analysis, wrote last month that “a sustained attack” on WhatsApp was part of the Kremlin’s efforts “to harass Russians into switching to Max from WhatsApp.”
“The policy is likely to work, especially if the population is given no choice,” they added.
Max developer VK was co-founded by Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder of Telegram, in 2006. Durov was forced out as CEO in 2014 after several arguments with the Russian state over censorship and refusals to hand over user data.
Current VK CEO, Vladimir Kiriyenko, is the son of Putin’s First Deputy Chief of Staff, Sergey Kiriyenko.
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