Blocking FaceTime and Snapchat - Control for Security

In 2024, Russian authorities tightened control over Internet communications: they blocked the popular FaceTime application from Apple, and also banned access to Snapchat. Officials explained this as a “fight against terrorism and fraud,” but for many users the decision looked like a new wave of information isolation. The consequences were felt immediately - people who were accustomed to video calls and simple communication with relatives abroad found themselves cut off. Telegram, WhatsApp, Signal, Viber have long been under scrutiny, and now the range of blocked platforms has expanded. The state is simultaneously promoting “national” instant messengers without end-to-end encryption, which raises concerns among those who value privacy and secure communication. For many, 2024 has become a time when the Internet is not just a service, but a control tool. Blockings, the constant threat of new bans, the impossibility of free communication - all this has increased the feeling of information isolation. Citizens who have left or want to leave the country, people with relatives abroad, as well as those who work as freelancers, where stable connections are important, find themselves in a particularly vulnerable position. This measure is part of a general trend: repressive, technological, deep. And in 2024, it became noticeable to almost every user.