Finance
Russian watchdog blocks Viber messaging app
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 13, 2024
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on December 13, 2024
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Russia's Roskomnadzor has blocked Viber, citing terrorism and extremism concerns. Rakuten Group's CEO opposes Russian propaganda.
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said on Friday it had blocked access to the Viber messaging app, the latest in a line of social media services to be banned by Russian authorities.
In a statement, Roskomnadzor said the block was related to a violation of rules concerning the prevention of terrorism, extremism, and drug dealing.
Rakuten Group, which owns Viber, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hiroshi Mikitani, the founder and chief executive of Rakuten Group had touted the messenging app as a way to counter what he called Russian propaganda.
"Unlike other social media, we've made it crystal clear we're going to block all these fake news and propaganda of Russia," Mikitani told Reuters in a Zoom interview during a visit to Kyiv last year.
(Writing by Felix Light, Editing by Louise Heavens and Christina Fincher)
The main topic is the blocking of the Viber messaging app by Russia's Roskomnadzor due to concerns over terrorism and extremism.
Viber was blocked by Roskomnadzor for violating rules related to terrorism, extremism, and drug dealing.
Viber is owned by the Rakuten Group, a Japanese company.
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