As of October 2026, WhatsApp is fully blocked in China, North Korea, Russia and Iran. A longer list of countries, mostly in the Gulf, allow WhatsApp messaging but block or restrict its voice and video calls.
Full bans
- China: blocked since 2017 behind the Great Firewall. Freedom House lists WhatsApp among the many foreign messaging platforms blocked there.
- North Korea: effectively unavailable, along with almost all foreign internet services.
- Russia: regulators restricted WhatsApp calls in August 2025, then WhatsApp said in February 2026 that Russia had attempted to fully block the app to push users toward the state-backed Max messenger. Access since then has been patchy at best.
- Iran: lifted a two-year ban in December 2024, but reimposed restrictions during the June 2025 conflict. After a long 2026 internet blackout, Al Jazeera reported in May 2026 that WhatsApp remained closed off with no plan to restore it.
Calls blocked, messaging works
- UAE: voice and video calls blocked; licensed alternatives like BOTIM and Zoom work.
- Qatar: calls widely reported as blocked or unreliable since 2017.
- Jordan and Egypt: restrictions or throttling of VoIP calls, per a Reuters factbox from August 2025.
Past bans now lifted
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uganda and Oman have all restricted WhatsApp or its calls at some point and have since eased. Short shutdowns around elections or protests also happen elsewhere, so check news before you go.
In countries where a VPN is legal, a service such as NordVPN can help on blocked networks. Russia, China and the UAE all restrict VPN use in different ways, so check local rules before relying on one.