Russia blocks WeChat

Russia’s telecoms watchdog has blocked China’s WeChat, the social media app developed by Tencent Holdings. Access has been restricted since May 4, according to information posted on the Russian regulator’s website. 

Since its launch in 2011, WeChat has become China’s most popular mobile social media platform. Russian media quoted the regulator Roskomnadzor, which was not immediately available for comment on Saturday, as saying the access was restricted after WeChat refused to provide contact information for the regulator’s register. Tencent said it was checking the status and was in talks with the relevant authorities. In Russia, Mail.ru’s VKontakte, Facebook’s WhatsApp and Rakuten’s Viber were the most popular mobile messaging applications last year.