MOSCOW, July 18 (Reuters) - WhatsApp poses a threat to

Russia's national security and its fate has already been

decided, Anton Nemkin, a member of the lower house of

parliament's IT committee said on Friday, the state-run TASS

news agency reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last month signed a law

authorising the development of a state-backed messaging app

integrated with government services, as Moscow strives to reduce

its dependence on platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the lower house of

parliament's information technology committee, said earlier on

Friday that WhatsApp should prepare to leave the Russian market.