PANews reported on February 13 that WhatsApp posted on its X platform: "Today, the Russian government attempted to completely block WhatsApp in an effort to force its citizens to use a state-run surveillance app. Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private, secure communication is a step backward and will only make people in Russia more unsafe. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure uninterrupted communication for our users."

Earlier reports indicated that Telegram's CEO would resist Russian authorities' plans to restrict access to its social media platform , while the Russian government was promoting Max, a "super app" modeled after WeChat.