The European Union on Monday sanctioned Russian tech giant VK over its role in developing the Kremlin-backed messaging app Max, which critics say was created for mass surveillance and censorship.
The restrictions on VK and its subsidiary, Communication Platform LLC, follow coordinated EU and British sanctions targeting individuals and entities accused of being behind Russia-attributed cyberattacks across Europe.
“The development of the Max application was supervised by the Federal Security Service (FSB),” the EU said in its official sanctions designation.
Brussels cited expert opinions claiming that Max, which comes pre-installed on all phones and devices sold in Russia, has “extensive” surveillance capabilities to monitor communications.
“The introduction and promotion of the Max application by the Russian state have been accompanied by a crackdown on and blocking of other independent applications,” the EU designated added, referring to restrictions on Telegram and WhatsApp.
