Signal has been blocked by Venezuela and Russia

Signal, the encrypted messaging app, has been blocked in both Venezuela and Russia amid government crackdowns on dissent. In Venezuela, the blockage follows controversial presidential election results that have sparked protests and arrests, with the U.S. recognizing opposition candidate Edmundo González as the election winner. Internet monitoring service NetBlocks reported that Signal became "unreachable on multiple internet providers" in Venezuela, where President Nicolás Maduro has also ordered a block on the social media platform X. In Russia, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claims Signal violated local laws, leading to restrictions on the app's backend services across most internet providers. Users in Russia are also unable to register new Signal accounts without a VPN. Signal has acknowledged the reports of access issues and recommends users enable its censorship circumvention feature to maintain usability in these regions. Additionally, users in Russia have reported a widespread outage of YouTube, although the platform states this is not due to any technical issues on their end.

- Signal has been blocked in Venezuela and Russia as part of government crackdowns.

- The blockage in Venezuela follows disputed presidential election results and subsequent protests.

- In Russia, Signal's access is restricted due to alleged violations of local legislation.

- Signal recommends using its censorship circumvention feature for affected users.

- Users in Russia are also experiencing issues accessing YouTube, unrelated to Signal's situation.