August 9, 2024 at 03:14PM
Russia’s watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has restricted access to Signal encrypted messaging service, citing violations of anti-terrorism and anti-extremism laws. Signal acknowledged some countries block its services and advised users to enable censorship circumvention. Russia has also banned other private messaging apps and VPN products, and recently blocked access to YouTube. Signal did not immediately respond for comment.
After reviewing the meeting notes, the following takeaways are evident:
– Russia’s telecommunications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, has restricted access to the Signal encrypted messaging service due to violations of Russian anti-terrorism and anti-extremism legislation.
– Signal confirmed that some countries block its services and advised users to enable the built-in censorship circumvention feature from Signal Settings > Privacy > Advanced > Censorship circumvention.
– Russia has previously banned the use of many foreign private messaging applications in government and state agencies, including Discord, Microsoft Team, Telegram, Threema, Viber, WhatsApp, and WeChat. However, Signal was not mentioned in the ban.
– Russia has also banned several VPN products, including 25 VPN apps removed from the Russian App Store by Apple at the request of Roskomnadzor.
– The Russian government has also blocked access to YouTube, despite a full block being expected in September.
These key points demonstrate Russia’s ongoing actions to restrict access to various communication and networking platforms.