Earlier today, the Russian government announced a new rule requiring all phones and tablets to ship with MAX, its state-backed messenger app, preinstalled. Here are the details.
As reported by Reuters, starting September 1, “gadget” makers will have to include MAX among the apps that must come preinstalled. That includes phones and tablets.
RuStore, the country’s domestic application store, which up to now came preinstalled on Android devices, will also have to come preinstalled on all “gadgets”, including iPhones and iPads.
MAX, which will soon be integrated with government services, has faced accusations of spying on users for the Russian state. This claim has repeatedly been denied by state media.
And speaking of state media, today’s mandate also includes smart TVs, which, starting January 1, will have to come with LIME HD TV preinstalled, an app that offers free streaming of state TV channels.
Clash with foreign messaging apps escalates
Today’s news added to a years-long dispute between the Russian government and messaging apps. Earlier this month, the Kremlin restricted calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, after refusing to cooperate in an investigation the government claimed was about “fraud and terrorism cases.”
Earlier this year, Mediascope reported that WhatsApp had 97.3 million users in Russia, followed by Telegram, with 90.8 million. In a distant third place came VK Messenger, which is owned by a state-backed company, with 17.9 million users.
This week, MAX announced that it hit 18 million users, just as Russian authorities confirmed the first arrest of one of its users in what they said was a fraud case.
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