The Kremlin is cracking down on social media platforms like YouTube and the WhatsApp encrypted messaging service. While Russian authorities say the move is to limit the ability of extremist groups to exchange information, observers note it also will restrict groups opposed to the ongoing war in Ukraine from communicating with each other.

Russian lawmaker Anton Nemkin told an interviewer last week that the government had begun to slow down traffic to the WhatsApp site. Independent media outlets also reported that Moscow was behind recent disruptions to YouTube service.

“YouTube is relatively popular in Russia and has been used by opposition activists, most notably the late Alexei Navalny, to disseminate criticism of the Russian government,” British military intelligence officials said Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to block YouTube altogether in September 2024, U.K. officials said on X in their latest assessment of the war in Ukraine.

The restrictions represent what Western analysts say is a longstanding trend of increasing government control over access to media and information in Russia.

The new measures “are likely designed to ensure that the Russian population are only able to access media that conforms to government-controlled narratives,” British officials said. “By restricting more secure means of private communications, government surveillance of potential dissenters will be easier.”

The move also could create a climate of fear and self-censorship in Russia among those who might be critical of the regime, U.K. officials said.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.