{"id":50311,"date":"2025-12-04T21:42:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T02:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=50311"},"modified":"2025-12-11T13:30:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T18:30:05","slug":"russia-blocks-facetime-snapchat-and-roblox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/04\/russia-blocks-facetime-snapchat-and-roblox\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia Blocks FaceTime, Snapchat, and Roblox"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/2025\/12\/04\/russia-blocks-facetime\/\">Juli Clover<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.macrumors.com\/2025\/12\/04\/russia-blocks-facetime\/\"><p>Russia has blocked Apple&rsquo;s FaceTime video calling app in an ongoing effort to eliminate private communication methods, reports <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/retail-consumer\/russia-imposes-restrictions-apples-facetime-app-agencies-say-2025-12-04\/\">Reuters<\/a><\/em>. Russia claims  FaceTime  is being used for criminal activity, and that blocking the app is a legitimate law enforcement measure. Social network Snapchat and multiplayer gaming platform Roblox were also banned this week.<\/p><p>[&#8230;]<\/p><p> FaceTime  is now restricted nationwide, and has likely been blocked at the network level, so it may still be accessible through a VPN. Moscow residents are seeing a &ldquo;User unavailable&rdquo; message when attempting to use  FaceTime , which is the error displayed when a  FaceTime  call is unable to connect. The app still opens and activates, so Apple hasn&rsquo;t removed it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cn41q11gy58o\">Osmond Chia<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/news.ycombinator.com\/item?id=46143841\">Hacker News<\/a>):<\/p><blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cn41q11gy58o\"><p>Russia has blocked access to popular gaming platform Roblox due to concerns over child safety and extremism, including the spread of LGBT-related content.<\/p><p>The country&rsquo;s media regulator said Roblox had become rife with &ldquo;inappropriate content that can negatively impact the spiritual and moral development of children&rdquo;, according to local news outlets.<\/p><p>[&#8230;]<\/p><p>The Roskomnadzor also flagged reports of sexual harassment of children and the sharing of intimate images on the platform. Other countries have raised similar issues, and the platform is already banned in certain countries, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/turkce\/articles\/c0l8w6gr7zzo\">including Turkey<\/a>, over concerns about child safety.<\/p><p>[&#8230;]<\/p><p>Last month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cy0kd4kk0kqo\">sued the platform over &ldquo;flagrantly ignoring&rdquo; safety laws<\/a> and &ldquo;deceiving parents&rdquo; about the dangers it posed to young people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2025\/12\/03\/mandate-to-pre-install-ios-app-in-india\/\">Mandate to Pre-Install iOS App in India<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/05\/apple-removes-vpn-apps-from-russian-app-store\/\">Apple Removes VPN Apps From Russian App Store<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/18\/ios-to-offer-pre-installed-apps-in-russia\/\">iOS to Offer Pre-Installed Apps in Russia<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/08\/05\/cloudflare-and-voxility-ban-8chan\/\">Cloudflare and Voxility Ban 8Chan<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/12\/apple-storing-russian-users-data-on-local-servers\/\">Apple Storing Russian Users&rsquo; Data on Local Servers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/31\/apple-hasnt-blocked-telegram-app-but-wont-allow-updates\/\">Apple Hasn&rsquo;t Blocked Telegram App, But Won&rsquo;t Allow Updates<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"russia-blocks-facetime-snapchat-and-roblox-update-2025-12-09\">Update (<a href=\"#russia-blocks-facetime-snapchat-and-roblox-update-2025-12-09\">2025-12-09<\/a>): <a href=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/linked\/2025\/12\/07\/russia-blocks-facetime-and-snapchat\">John Gruber<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/linked\/2025\/12\/07\/russia-blocks-facetime-and-snapchat\">\n<p>I&rsquo;m curious why iMessage isn&rsquo;t blocked too.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@lapcatsoftware\/115680947642673953\">Jeff Johnson<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@lapcatsoftware\/115680947642673953\"><p>I&rsquo;m not sure iMessage can be blocked without blocking all Apple services, because it operates over the standard https port and shares domains with other services.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p id=\"russia-blocks-facetime-snapchat-and-roblox-update-2025-12-11\">Update (<a href=\"#russia-blocks-facetime-snapchat-and-roblox-update-2025-12-11\">2025-12-11<\/a>): <a href=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/2025\/12\/imessage_push_notifications_hard_to_block\">John Gruber<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/2025\/12\/imessage_push_notifications_hard_to_block\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@magebarf\/115686285616651788\">This thread on Mastodon<\/a>, prompted by <a href=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/linked\/2025\/12\/07\/russia-blocks-facetime-and-snapchat\">my wondering why Russia is blocking FaceTime but not iMessage<\/a>, suggests that because iMessage messages are sent via APNs, a network (or entire nation) seeking to block iMessage can only do so by blocking all push notifications for iOS. That&rsquo;s why on airplanes with &ldquo;free messaging&rdquo; on in-flight Wi-Fi, you usually also get all incoming push notifications, even for services that aren&rsquo;t available on the free Wi-Fi.<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>Apple might have architected iMessage this way to make iMessage veto-proof with cellular carriers, who, at the time of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apple.com\/newsroom\/2011\/06\/06New-Version-of-iOS-Includes-Notification-Center-iMessage-Newsstand-Twitter-Integration-Among-200-New-Features\/\">iMessage&rsquo;s announcement in June 2011<\/a>, were already promoting iPhone push notifications as a reason to upgrade from a dumb phone to an iPhone with a more expensive plan.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@adamshostack@infosec.exchange\/115696265604923920\">Adam Shostack<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@adamshostack@infosec.exchange\/115696265604923920\">\n<p>Oh, <a href=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/guide\/security\/how-imessage-sends-and-receives-messages-sec70e68c949\/web\">this<\/a> answers a question I&rsquo;ve had for a long time, which is how in flight wifi blocks photos.<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/support.apple.com\/guide\/security\/how-imessage-sends-and-receives-messages-sec70e68c949\/web\"><p>APNs can only relay messages up to 4 or 16 KB in size, depending on the iOS or iPadOS version. If the message text is too long or if an attachment such as a photo is included, the attachment is encrypted using AES in CTR mode with a randomly generated 256-bit key and uploaded to iCloud.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Juli Clover: Russia has blocked Apple&rsquo;s FaceTime video calling app in an ongoing effort to eliminate private communication methods, reports Reuters. Russia claims FaceTime is being used for criminal activity, and that blocking the app is a legitimate law enforcement measure. Social network Snapchat and multiplayer gaming platform Roblox were also banned this week.[&#8230;] FaceTime [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-12-05T02:42:25Z","apple_news_api_id":"376bed37-1342-4315-90de-1708c1023e6a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-12-11T18:30:09Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAg==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AN2vtNxNCQxWQ3hcIwQI-ag","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1650,558,140,31,2741,26,41,209,2043,1676,1382,2774],"class_list":["post-50311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-children","tag-facetime","tag-imessage","tag-ios","tag-ios-26","tag-iosapp","tag-lawsuit","tag-legal","tag-roblox","tag-russia","tag-snapchat","tag-texas"],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50311"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50394,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50311\/revisions\/50394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}