The Kremlin is pushing Russians to use state-backed messenger service MAX, but some are wary about the service and say they do not want to download it at all.
In what has been cast by diplomats as Russia’s “great crackdown”, Russia has repeatedly blocked mobile internet and granted sweeping powers to cut off mass communications while jamming messaging services and virtual private networks.
In their place, Russia has aggressively promoted MAX, which casts itself as a “national messenger” and is owned by a company whose boss is the son of one of…
