How Are the Russian Authorities Forcing Max on Citizens- Since September 2025, Max has been included in the list of applications required to be pre-installed on electronic devices. Refusal to comply results in fines: 30,000–50,000 rubles for officials, and 50,000–200,000 rubles for companies.
- The Ministry of Digital Development has added Max to the "whitelist" of platforms allowed to function when mobile internet is shut down. At the same time, local governments have started implementing regional internet shutdowns more frequently. For example, the Ulyanovsk regional government announced that mobile internet restrictions would remain in place until the end of the war in Ukraine. This means people will only be able to stay connected via government-approved services.
- The Russian Minister of Construction and Housing, Irek Fayzullin, stated that by the end of 2025, every apartment building in Russia must have an official group chat in Max. These chats will be created by regional housing supervision authorities and given official status.
- The Ministry of Education has ordered all universities and vocational schools in Russia to register in Max and submit usage reports by December 19, 2025. According to official guidelines obtained by Arctic Observer, these reports must include data on the number of connected students and staff, the presence of work and academic chats, and updates on a pilot program transitioning student ID cards and grade books into digital format within Max. According to the human rights project By Own Will, which launched a petition to stop this illegal pressure on students and teachers, students and staff are being threatened with written reprimands, exam bans, forced make-up classes, and even expulsion or dismissal if they don’t comply.
Resident of Saratov: “I work as the head of an HOA. Since September 2025, we’ve been receiving letters from the Housing Committee and city and district administrations demanding: install MAX, move the house chat there, send a report by October 15. Honestly, I completely ignored those letters. No fines yet, but I’m ready to pay them if needed — I’m quitting soon. They can’t force me, but they can fine me, sure. I also work at a property management company. On November 12, the Ministry of Construction and the Chamber of Commerce demanded reports from all management companies that they would move all resident chats to MAX by November 15. Our company director often goes to Crimea to ‘help our boys,’ so he installed MAX and created a chat for each building. I didn’t talk politics with him before, and now I really have to watch my words.” Resident of Rostov Region: “My daughter is in 11th grade. Since September 1, the homeroom teacher has been subtly hinting about the group chat on MAX for students and parents. Two weeks ago, she started saying students must install it because all info will be there. My daughter refused. The teacher tried to persuade her: ‘Everyone is installing it! I didn’t want to either, but then I found out all my colleagues had, so I did too. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but your data gets leaked anyway.’ She said more nonsense I can’t even remember. But she still sends info via WhatsApp. Parents aren’t even approached about it. My daughter says her classmates trashed MAX over the summer (direct quote: ‘talked mad sh*t about it’), but now they’re all installing it. We’re holding out.” Resident of Udmurtia:
“The Glazov city administration forced all directors and deputy directors in education and culture to install MAX. In many city schools, teachers pressured parents — and especially pressured the kids. They demanded everyone install MAX from mid-October to mid-November. I personally refused. I told the teacher we wouldn’t install it and sent an expert analysis of MAX. The teacher went quiet. But now we can’t access the student journal or assignments. During quarantine, those who installed it were the only ones who could continue learning online.” Resident of Stavropol Krai: “There wasn’t much pressure on me, but I’ll still share. I’m in 8th grade, and most 8th-grade classes switched to MAX. Barely, but they did. Our class is different. Our homeroom teacher is a young guy and doesn’t insist on MAX. But he left the WhatsApp group and said he’ll only post updates in MAX.
We have a group on MAX, but out of 25 students, only 3 are in it. He’s still in the parents’ chat but keeps advertising MAX every day. So no one is technically forcing anyone — everything is ‘totally voluntary’! (Cue bitter sarcasm.)” Resident of Moscow: “You’ve probably already heard about how MAX is being forced on people in Moscow’s education system. My school in the Northern Administrative District is no exception. When I started working in 2021, most of our work chats were on WhatsApp. In 2022, we switched to Telegram. The next year — to VK’s Sferum. Most students and parents didn’t switch, so we ended up juggling chats: one with colleagues, another with students and parents. This year, our work chats with admin and coworkers are moving to MAX. We already had our first planning meeting on it. The administration tracks who has joined MAX and who hasn’t. Without access, you can’t do your job properly — you miss info. So nearly all teachers in our school are now on MAX. Some buy a second phone out of fear of surveillance. Some use MAX on a computer. I personally use the second profile space on my phone. But the issue is — we need to get info quickly and respond fast. In practice, we’re still chatting one-on-one through Telegram, WhatsApp, and Sferum.” |
