Signal is blocked in Venezuela and Russia. The app is a popular choice for encrypted messaging and those trying to avoid government censorship, and the blocks appear to be part of a crackdown on domestic dissent in both countries.
In Venezuela, the blockade follows the disputed results of the country's presidential election last month, which has sparked protests and arrests as President Nicolas Maduro clings to power. according to MSNBC. (The US recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González) as the winner of the elections.) Internet monitoring service NetBlocks said Thursday evening that Signal x.com/netblocks/status/1821678143289122925?t=84yMM2WzfUpSE5ElwfidKw&s=19″>had become “unreachable on several internet providers” in the country. Maduro has also ordered the blocking of x, x-elon-musk-59bb734bdd0c8cc4082d6a0cb0f5af25″>The Associated Press information.
In Russia, the country's communications regulator Roskomnadzor says Signal violated Russian law, information InterfaxPeople in Russia also cannot register a new Signal account without using a VPN. technology/signal-messenger-blocked-russia-says-roskomnadzor-ifax-2024-08-09/”>Reuters informationRussia has “restricted the backends of the Signal messaging app on most internet providers” as of Friday afternoon, x.com/netblocks/status/1821958552719708455?t=kkhsV97ZEc5WJSsEDN6qJQ&s=19″>NetBlocks says.
“We are aware of reports that access to Signal has been blocked in some countries,” x.com/signalapp/status/1821979304626155930″>The sign saysIf you are affected by the blocks, the company recommends turning on its feature to bypass censorship. (NetBlocks reports that this feature allows Signal to “continue to be used” in Russia.) Signal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Users in Russia have also reported a massive YouTube outage in the country, According to VOA News“We are aware of reports of some people being unable to access YouTube in Russia,” said YouTube spokesperson Ciaran Ward. The edge“This is not due to any technical issues on our part or any action we have taken.”
