![]() “The idea is that to block the target traffic, the censors would also have to block those entire services. In an update of the status of the app, Open Whisper Systems included “support for censorship circumvention in Egypt and the UAE” as a new feature using domain fronting. ![]() With the recent targeting of Signal, security fears have been raised over what the San Francisco-based service provider Open Whisper Systems has termed “censoring access.” TechCrunch reached out to the ministry several times to no avail. The Ministry of Communications & Information Technology has not confirmed or denied its block of Signal. She uses Signal herself and was able to access the app when other users could not. “These disruptions are not uniform and the causes behind them are not clear,” said Rasha Abdulla, professor of communications at American University in Cairo, who authored a book on the internet in the Arab world. Other countries in the Middle East and North Africa (like Morocco) have also limited access to anonymous messaging services and Turkey in recent days has blocked social media in light of the recent assassination of the Russian ambassador. Among all My losses, I’ve lost access to secure chatting.Įgypt has blocked other VoIP apps such as Skype and Whatsapp before, but these for-profit communications services didn’t offer quite the same level of encryption and privacy features as Signal. It is popular among Egyptian activists and journalists in protecting their sources.ĭear world, as of yesterday both Signal & Telegram apps are not working in Egypt. The app, available on IOS, Android and Desktop, uses built-in end-to-end encryption to prevent third parties (like governments) from seeing the content being sent. So I concluded that something happened in the scope of Egypt,” ElGohary told TechCrunch. When I tried to use it on VPN, it worked. ![]() The failing to send also happened on another ISP. “I was trying to message a friend on Signal, and it said ‘unable to send’. “Signal is important as a means of secure communications without third parties knowing who I’m contacting,” said prominent Egyptian blogger and Global Voices board member Mohamed ElGohary.ĮlGohary was one of the first activists to report the lack of access on Twitter. Last week Egyptian users raised the alarm about their inability to access the highly encrypted app popular among activists, including important whistleblower Edward Snowden.Įgypt has been increasingly tightening controls on speech all year, and the move against Signal is just the latest attempt to stifle dissent and impede open journalism. After losing his leg, a Syrian war survivor turns to tech to 3D print prosthetic limbsĪfter a week of blocking the secure messaging app Signal in Egypt the service is back online thanks to new features added by its parent company Open Whisper Systems. ![]()
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