The governments of Russia and Venezuela have blocked access to the popular encrypted messaging app Signal. According to The Verge, users in both countries are experiencing issues accessing the app.
According to Russian news agency Interfax, Russia’s telecommunications regulatory authority Roskomnadzor restricted Signal on the grounds that it “did not comply with the necessary Russian laws to prevent its use for terrorist and extremist purposes.”
Cybersecurity monitoring organization NetBlocks confirmed on Friday on social media platform X that Russia has blocked access to Signal “on most internet service providers”. NetBlocks also shared a statement from Signal’s own X account, stating that affected users can continue to use the app by enabling the “circumvention of censorship” feature in the app’s settings.
The blockage in Venezuela came after the country’s controversial presidential elections at the end of July. According to the Associated Press, without providing any evidence, Venezuela’s election board declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the election. This led to protests among Maduro’s opponent Edmundo González’s supporters and opposition groups.
Both countries are thought to have blocked access to similar social media apps in order to suppress opposition voices. For example, President Maduro today banned the platform for 10 days, accusing X’s owner Elon Musk of inciting hate and violating social network rules. Also, VOA News reported a “widespread YouTube outage” in Russia on Thursday.
These developments are increasing concerns about freedom of expression and internet access in both countries. According to experts, users can mitigate the impact of such blockages by using technological solutions like “censorship circumvention”.
