The News
Russia’s sweeping crackdown on news and free speech intensified Friday as authorities moved to block the encrypted messaging app Signal, while YouTube experienced mass outages.
Signal, which is widely used by independent journalists and opposition activists, was blocked by the state communications watchdog for violating local laws, Russian news agency Interfax reported.
Meanwhile, YouTube users experienced mass outages starting Thursday after authorities who had recently ramped up criticism of the video site apparently moved to curb playback speeds. The video sharing site, which is used by 50 million Russians each day, has become the last platform for Russia’s opposition in exile to reach an audience at home, and experts have long warned that the Kremlin would move to block it.
Moscow has clamped down hard on freedom of speech since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, blocking major foreign news outlets, barring access to X, Instagram and Facebook, and imposing a law that allows those spreading “false information” about the war to be punished by up to 15 years in jail. Anti-war messages or critiques of the Kremlin are quickly blocked or censored on Russia’s homegrown alternatives such as VKontakte.