There is no other explanation for why authorities would limit the features of messaging apps. What's even stranger is that Messenger app from Meta is allowed, while the features of WhatsApp, also from the same company, are limited. In any case, these measures are meaningless in reality, given that people use all the apps. In the age of the free internet, imposing such restrictions is absurd, especially when no alternatives are offered.
The era of free internet ended 10 years ago. The authorities try to interfere with any established processes, but they need time to control them everywhere. Even 10 years ago they didn't care about messengers because it was like one of those things that come and go, but now everything has changed, more algorithms, more data, more control and, of course, more extensive appetites of the government.
Also, more out-of-the-box development. The good thing about internet technologies is that no one person can fully control everything, and no single entity can censor everything that happens online. There's always room to break free from these restrictions, as we're seeing now in Arab Gulf countries, which are imposing limits on messaging apps; The government still doesn't realize that a teenager in his apartment can create his own apps without anyone knowing, and that scientific knowledge isn't limited to the engineers who work for it or the technicians who monitor citizens' social media activity. Thanks Internet. Thanks blockchain.