Teachers in Dagestan are being forced to force parents to install the national MAX messenger, requiring each school to have at least 1,000 subscribers.

Math teacher and blogger Kamilla Mustafayeva published correspondence between school administrators that clearly demonstrates these demands. Teachers are being ordered to pressure students to force their parents to subscribe, as well as to personally recruit their relatives and friends to the messenger.

Mustafayeva expresses bewilderment, discussing why fellow teachers should be involved in such monitoring and how it relates to their work. Parents confirm instances of coercion, saying their children are being forced to download MAX without their consent, and are considering filing a complaint with the prosecutor's office.

"Colleagues, are you being forced to do all this? "I honestly don't understand why classroom teachers have to monitor who subscribes to a MAX channel. And why should teachers invite their "family and friends" to this channel? For what? I asked, 'Why is this necessary? What do you think they told me?'" Mustafayeva wrote in the caption to the video.

According to media reports, the MAX messenger is known for collecting large amounts of personal data, recording user activity, and sharing this information with third parties and government agencies.