INVESTIGATINGGovernmentRussia blocked VPNs, throttled Telegram, and mandated state super-app 'Max' on every phone sold since Sept 2025. Max has no end-to-end encryption and shares data directly with the FSB.
“Russia blocked VPNs, throttled Telegram, and mandated state super-app 'Max' on every phone sold since Sept 2025. Max has no end-to-end encryption and shares data directly with the FSB.”
Russia throttled Telegram. Blocked VPNs. And mandated a state-controlled super-app called "Max" on every phone sold in the country since September 2025. Max has no end-to-end encryption. It shares all data directly with the FSB — Russia's federal security service. Ninety million people now have no choice but to communicate through a government wiretap.
Step one: block the encrypted alternatives. Telegram, Signal, VPNs — anything that lets citizens communicate privately was throttled or banned. Step two: mandate the state app. Max comes pre-installed on every new phone. Step three: make it essential. Banking, government services, and communication all route through Max.
Max has zero end-to-end encryption. Every message, every call, every file transfer is readable by the FSB. This isn't a bug or an oversight — it's the entire point. The app was designed from the ground up as a surveillance tool disguised as a communication platform.
What Russia is doing today, other governments are watching. The playbook is replicable: ban encrypted platforms, mandate a state alternative, make it essential for daily life. If it works in Russia, authoritarian-curious governments worldwide will follow the model.
No one's said anything yet. Be the first to drop your take.
