MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said Signal, an encrypted messaging app, had been blocked in the country for violating counterterrorism-like operations, news firm Interfax reported on Friday.
“Access to the Signal messaging app is blocked due to a violation of the needs of Russian law that will need to be met to prevent the use of messaging apps for terrorist and extremist purposes,” Interfax quoted the company as saying.
Before Roskomnadzor announced its action, many Signal users reported problems with the messaging app, a secure communication tool used by nearly a million Russians to encrypt messages and conversations.
Internet service tracking sites have recorded more than 1,500 court cases about Signal, basically from users in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Users, however, reported that it worked when accessed through a VPN or used in the built-in censorship bypass mode.
“This in particular indicates a blocking of messaging in Russia and not a technical challenge by Signal,” Mikhail Klimarev of the Telegram channel “For Telecom” told Reuters.
Signal responded to a request for comment.
It was also to log into a new account on Signal without a VPN, three other people from Moscow and the Krasnodar region told Reuters. When entering a cell phone number, the service displayed the message “Server Error. “
Klimarev said this is the first attempt to block Signal in Russia.
The Russian government began blocking access to Telegram, a widely used messaging app, in 2018. The move disrupted many third parties, but had little effect on Telegram’s availability in Russia.
(Writing by Felix Light; editing by Alex Richardson and Ron Popeski, Kirsten Donovan)
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