Russia's latest effort to make a sovereign digital ecosystem is gaining momentum. Max, the state-supported communicator developed by VK (formerly WContact) is positioned as a patriotic alternate to WhatsApp and Telegram — platforms that have experienced full or partial interference in voice and video calls across the country in fresh weeks.
Officials say that Max will shortly become a Russian "applicant for everything": a single platform for sending messages, making payments and utilizing state services. The application launched in March already has over 18 million registered users. There were only 1 million in June. We've gone deeper into the application functionality, its weaknesses, and the effects of government efforts. Will Max become what the authorities are announcing?
Communication where others fail
From 1 September Max must be preinstalled on all smartphones, tablets, computers and Smart TVs sold in Russia. The authorities couldn't have picked a better date. From mid-August users of WhatsApp and Telegram were incapable to make voice calls. They were either off immediately or within seconds.
Roskomover has officially blocked voice calls in both communicators, citing their usage by frauds and terrorists. However, this movement affected average citizens who relied on these services to save on mobile and global roaming costs.
— Many Russian companies proceed to trust full on Telegram and WhatsApp communicators for business connections. These one more time show how of this kind undermines the company’s full profitability “ Denis Kuskow, CEO of Telecom Daily, said in an interview with RBC Life.
Some of the largest Russian social media stars have been active in promoting Max. Rapper Instasamka, who late started working with the authorities and even condemns another musicians, praised the quality of the connections Max's Instagram post, claiming that spoke for 2 hours in an underground garage without losing a connection. The pop star Wales Carnival, Ambassador VK Video, besides praised “an excellent combination of applications even during movement or in an elevator.”
The comedian Denis Dorochow besides joined the campaign, praising the communicator's communication while travelling. The musician Egor Krid went even further, promoting Max in his music video to the single “Morie”. Lying in a rubber boat at sea, he says on the phone: “Brother, you can believe it, Max even works at sea!” This inept placement of the product caused widespread ridicule in comments.
Users ridiculed the primitive marketing message, and the JesusAVGN streamer noted that Max is praised simply for performing his basic function. “ Max and I will even catch you in the elevator,” he joked, suggesting that Max, like VK, would share data with Russian authorities.
The VK task director, Artemis Lebiedev, pointed out Max's deficiency of anonymity as his main advantage. In an interview with blogger Amiran Sardarov Lebiedev stated that this function eliminates bots and spam. More controversially, he said he appreciates the fact that there are no "chochochols" on the platform (so offensively called Ukrainians in Russia).
User reviews vary widely. “My messages don’t always go through,” wrote 1 reviewer on Google Play who rated the app for 1 star. On the another hand, an iOS user left a five-star review: “Finally, an application that simply works, unlike WhatsApp. I hope they will improve it."
Max is to be everywhere — at home, at the office, at school, at work
Besides effective marketing, Max is of course intended to service political purposes. Officials want to integrate it with the portal of state services “Gosupiciary” through the Unified strategy of recognition and Authentication (ESIA). This would enable citizens logging into government platforms, paying media bills or signing papers straight through the applicationAnd, in effect, making Max a digital gateway to basic services for citizens.
However, at a gathering of the government commission in early August, the national safety Service initially blocked Max's direct connection with ESIA, citing the hazard of individual data leaking. According to IT sources cited by Russian media, FSB submitted a multi-page list of requirements, ranging from certified encryption systems to origin code audits. akin concerns were expressed by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Grigorenko, who oversees the project.
On 7 August, Maxut Shadaev, Minister for Digital Development, announced that Max met all the FSB safety requirements for integration with the Gosuservices. VK claims that they are presently working on another reservations, and full integration is only expected in late autumn. For now, however, Max looks like any another chat app: no additional features can be seen, and the integration of government services is far from clear.
Even without full access to the Service, state institutions aggressively force society to accept Max. The Ministry of Housing and Municipal Services in Moscow ordered the migration of all vicinity chat rooms with WhatsApp and Telegram for a fresh communicator. According to Evgeny Stupin, a erstwhile Moscow City Duma MP, this order comes straight from the national Ministry of Construction and Housing. Posters instruct residents to download Max app, appear in entrances to residential buildings in large cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Educational institutions in more than 20 regions are besides forced to decision to Maxa, and the republics of Tatarstan, Mari El and Altai, as well as Chanty-Mansian Autonomous territory and the thieving and twerking circuits participate in a pilot task to decision all school chat rooms there. The Tatarstan authorities have announced that the local staff of the Ministry of Education, principals and staff of schools and kindergartens, students and their parents must control to Max until November.
Oleg Elkov / ShutterstockSurveillance in Russia. Illustration image
The Tatarstan teacher told the emigration portal Wirstek that “he fears the compulsion will begin again”. — most likely again They will force us to exert force on our children and parents “ He regrets.
— At work we were told that shortly we would all gotta go to Max. It has not been specified precisely what this means or how we will usage it. It is not clear whether you can refuse. Knowing that Max is the tool of state control, I would truly like not to do so — a 63 - year - old pediatrician in St. Petersburg tells us that he has asked us to stay anonymous.
According to Wirszka, at least 57 regions force public sector workers and officials to control to Max, which affects schools, housing services and local governments. The State University of Saint Petersburg claims to be “the first university in Russia to start utilizing a national communicator”, and The city politician announced Saint Petersburg as the first region to usage Max to supply urban services.
Serious problems and malicious memes
Max's fast expansion reveals his fragility. erstwhile VK launched a public bug-bounty bug-hunt program in July, safety specialists discovered respective major gaps within a fewer weeks. According to VK, the company has paid over 220 1000 rubles of awards, and presently offers up to 5 million rubles (about PLN 226 thousand) for the discovery of further safety gaps — which demonstrates both the hazard of fast improvement and the urgency to correct errors.
Max can only be installed utilizing Russian or Belarusian telephone numbers. Virtual SIM cards are blocked and registration from another countries is impossible. This effectively cuts off Russians abroad from communicating with their household and friends in Russia through Max unless they someway get a Russian or Belarusian number.
A fresh independent analysis described Max as highly invasive, noting that collect IP addresses, geolocation and contact lists, and its privacy policy clearly states that it can share this data with government authorities and “company partners”. The app requires access to the telephone camera, microphone, Bluetooth, notifications and biometric data. Developers besides trust on open origin code from another countries, including Ukraine, which, according to critics, undermines Moscow's claims of technological sovereignty.
Security researchers have documented fraud against Max users, where the attackers impersonated method assistance and offered "protection activation" services to encourage victims to disclose SMS verification codes.
Social media filled with memes comparing Max's download to "mandatory queues in the russian style" and joking that shortly “Max will be preinstalled in our kettles and refrigerators”. Others mock the application's faults by publishing screenshots of frozen chats with signatures specified as "swinging technology in action". On platform X, 1 user joked: “Max even works at sea — but not in my kitchen.”
Everyonephoto Studio / ShutterstockMoscow. Illustration image
This humor is due to widespread anxiety: people take Max due to the fact that they are ordered to, but Few seem willing to usage it voluntarily.
— Public sector workers in Russia are the most powerless people, as well as immigrants. so perform any meaningless decision made in advance said blogger Anatoliy Nesmijan.
Technology sovereignty à la Putin
Max's improvement reflects both Russia's digital ambitions and its precarious situation. The usage of the app is promoted by celebrities and enforced through state decrees, while abroad competitors encounter expanding method constraints.
Whether Max becomes a trusted tool for everyday usage or a symbol of state coercion will depend on VK's ability to destruct safety gaps, as well as whether the Russians accept downloading the application as more than just an obligation.
It is besides worth noting that authorities do not abandon erstwhile digital initiatives, but consolidate them at Max. The Sphere, a Russian state educational platform that combines communicators with online learning tools and is mandatory in schools from 2022, will be included in Max. The Ministry of Education reported that the Sphere functions will be available in Maksa from the fresh school year.
— We registered with the Sphere due to the fact that it was required, but We've been communicating on another communicators. “one of the teachers from the Włodzimierz territory said during the implementation of the Sphere. This pattern can happen again in Max: behind the facade of formal consent is inactive based on abroad platforms — at least as long as they stay available.
The force on Max serves as a decisive test of this, whether Russia can impose digital sovereignty through administrative force alternatively than technological advantage. After blocking voice calls on WhatsApp and Telegram, millions of Russians faced a hard choice: to usage a communicator they do not trust, or to lose comfortable communication with friends, household and colleagues.
As the deadline for the mandatory pre-installation of 1 September and the enforcement of the transition to applications by subsequent regions approaches Max can win not due to the fact that the Russians want it, but due to the fact that they have no alternative.
