OREANDA-NEWS. If Zoom decides to prohibit the sale of access to the service to Russian government agencies, its blocking in Russia is not excluded. This was stated to RIA Novosti by a member of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation Alexander Bashkin.

As reported on the eve of the media, Zoom Video Communications, which provides video conferencing services, prohibited its distributors from selling access to the service to government agencies and state-owned companies in Russia and the CIS.

Bashkin said: "Russia is not a supporter of sanctions, but if Zoom takes such a decision in relation to state institutions and state-owned companies, then it is possible to block this service on the territory of our country as a reciprocal, symmetrical measure."

The senator expressed the hope that Zoom will not restrict the availability of its products for government agencies and state-owned companies, noting that so far information about such a ban comes only from one of the regional distributors of the service.

The representative of the Federation Council noted: “We understand that any private company has the right to establish its own rules of sales, but Russia, like any state in which this company operates, can establish its own protectionist measures in response to such "whims ".

He stressed that the situation with Zoom suggests that Russia needs to be more actively involved in cybersecurity issues, develop its own platforms, services and network structures so that "no one would blackmail our country even with the very likelihood of disconnection from the service."