Signal Faces Disruption in Russia Amid Block Attempts

Hundreds of Signal users in Russia experienced glitches with the secure messaging app on Friday. Internet monitoring sites noted over 1,500 complaints from cities like Moscow and St Petersburg. Users could still access the app via VPNs. Experts suggest it signifies intentional blocking rather than technical issues.

Hundreds of Signal users in Russia reported glitches with the secure messaging app on Friday. The app, used by up to a million Russians for encrypted messaging, faced over 1,500 complaints from cities like Moscow and St Petersburg, according to internet service monitoring sites.

Users reported the app working normally when accessed via a VPN or through the built-in censorship bypass mode, suggesting that the issues were not due to technical problems. "This indicates precisely a blocking of the messenger in Russia and not a technical problem on the Signal side," said Mikhail Klimarev, author of the Telegram channel "For Telecom." Signal and Russian internet watchdog Roskomnadzor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In addition, it was impossible to register a new account on Signal without a VPN, with users from Moscow and the Krasnodar region reporting "Server Error" messages when entering mobile numbers. Klimarev noted that this appears to be the first attempt to block the messenger in Russia.