Signal Blocked In Russia Now

The messenger Signal is blocked in Russia and Venezuela. The messaging app, known for its encryption, which many users use to try to avoid censorship by government agencies, appears to be a thorn in the side of the authorities in both countries. Mockup WinFuture

State authority points to violations of law

According to a report by the private Russian news agency Interfax The Russian state telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor recently imposed a ban on Signal. The authority justified the move by saying that Signal allegedly violates Russian law. According to the information, Signal does not comply with legal requirements designed to prevent terrorism and extremism.

The press service of Roskomnadzor informed the agency that access to Signal had been restricted because the requirements of the Russian legislature, which must be observed in order to prevent the use of the messenger for terrorist and extremist purposes, had not been met, it said.

Block can be bypassed with anti-censorship function

In fact, it is currently no longer possible to create a new user account with Signal without using a VPN. The messenger’s backend is also currently no longer accessible via most Russian network operators, the organization reported. NetBlocks The background is probably the activities of the Ukrainian army on Russian territory in the Kursk region. However, Signal can still be used if the integrated function for circumventing censorship measures is activated.

Only recently, the Russian government ordered a throttling of the access speed of the video streaming service YouTube, operated by Google, which was justified by alleged censorship of Russian sources. However, there are now also various reports from users according to which YouTube is currently no longer freely available at all. Signal is also currently no longer usable in Venezuela. According to NetBlocks, Signal can no longer be reached there via a number of different Internet access providers. The background is the recent presidential election, in which the incumbent Nicolás Maduro and the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez each claimed victory.