WhatsApp said Russia was trying to block its services because the social media messaging app owned by Meta Platforms offered people's right to secure communication, and vowed to continue trying to make encrypted services available in Russia.

PARTIAL BLOCK Russia started restricting WhatsApp from Wednesday. It had clashed with foreign tech platforms for several years over content and data storage. United Arab Emirates (UAE) has banned most applications using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services - free internet-to-internet voice and video calls - starting in 2017.

An internal Meta Platforms document detailing policies on chatbot behavior has permitted the company’s artificial intelligence creations to “engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual,

The standards also allow the bots to make "statements that demean people on the basis of their protected characteristics," such as "black people are dumber than white people."