In Russia, calls in WhatsApp and Telegram block calls

Roskomnadzor confirmed “partial restrictions”. How to stay in touch with loved ones being in the country or abroad?

This week, users in Russia began to massively complain about failures of video calls in WhatsApp and Telegram. By the evening of August 13, it became officially known about the decision of the Russian authorities: Roskomnadzor confirmed the “partial restriction” of calls through these messengers.

“New Europe” is understanding whether such an act of censorship is possible, and together with experts finds out what ways to remain in touch with loved ones still remain if you are in Russia or abroad.

Since the beginning of this week, the Russians have massively encountered problems with calls in WhatsApp and Telegram. According to the Downdetector service, the number of complaints has grown sharply on Tuesday, August 12, and they still come (you can look at the dynamics here and here ). Most are related to connection problems during video calls. It is also difficult to call relatives on WhatsApp and Telegram to those who are abroad: the connection is either not established, or the connection is very bad and slow, so it is impossible to talk.

On August 12, the Telegram channel Ksenia Sobchak “Bloody lady”, citing sources in the telecommunications market, said that the Russian authorities allegedly made the final decision to block calls in WhatsApp and Telegram. According to Sobchak,

The ban will be promoted "under the auspices of the fight against terrorists." “However, this is not the end, channels and ordinary correspondence will still be available to users.”

She claimed.

By the evening of August 13, Roskomnadzor confirmed the “partial restriction” of calls through Telegram and WhatsApp, explaining this by the fact that “foreign messengers” became the main voice services used “to deceive and extorting money, involvement in the sabotage and terrorist activities of Russian citizens”.

The mincifers said that access to calls will be restored only after WhatsApp and Telegram will “fulfill the requirements of Russian legislation”.

Why do the Russian authorities block calls in messengers?

Blocking calls in messengers looks like another act of increasing censorship against the background of war.

So, the Russian authorities this summer are conducting the largest disconnecting mobile Internet in history. In parallel, they plan to create “white lists” of services, access to which will be possible during the shatdows. About this "New Europe" already wrote in detail.

According to the initiative, users will be able to access only approved applications after Kapchi pass. There is no official list of permitted services yet, but almost certainly the MAX state mixer from VK will enter there. Novye Europe has already talked about the risks that the use of the “national messenger” entails: about the leakage of data, abuse from officials and surveillance.

The fact that the “big four” of telecom operators (MTS, “Megafon”, Beeline and Tele2) asked to block calls in foreign messengers, the Forbes source in the government, as well as Ksenia Sobchak with reference to the Cabinet, previously told.

Their interlocutors say that blocking calls in foreign messengers will allow traffic to ordinary voice challenges and supposedly allow solving the problem of cyber abuse. Thus, operators hope to remove the main claims of the security forces against messengers and prevent the possible complete blocking of WhatsApp and Telegram, sources say. Against this background, FSB on August 11 spoke about the attempts of Ukrainian special services to recruit five pensioners through WhatsApp and Telegram to kill the Russian military.

At the same time, the IT expert Mikhail Klimarev draws attention: not operators of communication are blocked, but Roskomnadzor, who makes the final decision:

“Operators from this measure are only losses. Because traffic will be generated less. And many subscribers with several SIM cards will abandon useless contracts.

He said.

Another source “Caution, News” in the industry said that the news about the request of the operators was a surprise to the operators themselves, and there is no official comments about this yet.

The “In touch” project told the “agency” that the malfunctions in the work of WhatsApp and Telegram do not look random, as complaints come to the work of calls. In his opinion, the Russian authorities can conduct exercises to block calls in foreign messengers.

Is it possible to somehow bypass restrictions?

There are exits, but there are few of them, experts in the field of cybersecurity told Novy-Europe. First of all, as the cyber -willed Sarkis Darbinyan advises, if you and your relatives in Russia, install all VPN with obstacles and Kill Switch (for example, VPN Love or Amnezia ) - these are security functions that increase the level of confidentiality.

Luggage hides the fact of using VPN, making traffic similar to the usual one, which helps to circumvent locks and censorship. Kill Switch automatically turns off the Internet if the VPN connection breaks off, preventing data leakage.

It is advisable to install not one, but 4–5 VPN applications for the device and regularly supply them with fresh keys , another expert on cybersecurity in a conversation with the New Evrope ( he chose to remain anonymous for security reasons. - Ed. ). If you are abroad, then it is not necessary for you to install VPN - the main thing is to provide them with loved ones in Russia.

- If you turn on the VPN, then everything starts to work fine. I note that the VPN should be included in both subscribers (if they are both in the Russian Federation), ” said Mikhail Klimarev.

Secondly, if problems during an attempt to contact arise precisely with WhatsApp and Telegram, you can try to call through the Signal blocked in the Russian Federation-it should work with VPN.

Signal is still one of the safest messengers: it uses through encryption, in which only the sender and recipient can read messages. No one else, including developers, has no access to correspondence.

Thirdly, switching voice calls from the P2P mode to the transfer through the server helps to restore the connection, experts say the “issue of law”. In this case, the data should not go directly from the user to the user, but through the server (in Telegram : Settings-Confidentiality-Calls-Peer-to-Peer-“Do not use”; in WhatsApp: Settings-Privacy-advanced settings-“Protect IP at the call”; in SIGNAL : Primaries-advanced-“always re-relate Calls through the server ").

Fourth, communication can become better if users in Russia will connect to the wired Internet , not mobile. But this still does not guarantee a stable connection.

And if there are problems with whatsApp and Telegram with text messages?

Despite the fact that problems are now mainly with video calls, talking about the full blocking of WhatsApp has been going on for a long time. At the end of July, this was asserted by the Z-blogger Anastasia Kashevarova, however, in the relevant committee of the State Duma called her words “dubious stuffing”. On July 18, the deputy head of the State Duma IT Committee Anton Gorelkin said that "WhatsApp is time to prepare for leaving the Russian market."

Therefore, now you need to have a list of applications at hand, with the help of which at crisis moments you can safely exchange text messages. Experts in the field of cybersecurity in a conversation with Novo-Europe advise the following:

• DELTAChat - a mail client with bilateral encryption and an interface in the style of the messenger. It can be installed on a regular electronic mailbox for safe messaging (you can even with Mail.ru or Yandex).

• JAMI is a platform for messaging, audio and video calls that operate on the basis of decentralized technologies and encryption.

• BRIAR (for Android)-an application for a messaging that can synchronize the data via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or the TOR network, including in the absence of an Internet connection.

• Bridgefy is a messaging application that allows you to communicate with other users without access to the Internet using Bluetooth. But make sure that you have Bluetooth and you have a connection to the Internet when the application is first launched.

What is better not to do?

It is useless to buy foreign SIM cards: in instant messengers, calls are not carried out by phone, but on the Internet, and the SIM card itself is used only to obtain a mobile Internet service. This will not save from locks: foreign tourists who have come to Russia and go online in roaming still do not work without VPN “forbidden” sites and social networks, although they have a foreign SIM card.

It is also better not to install any first messengers that still work without VPN. Not all of them provide final encryption immediately, that is, traffic can be visible at least to the server. Check them before installation.

The best way out is to install a good VPN and use protected, albeit blocked messengers.

Experts do not advise you to see the Wi-Fi calls (also known as Voice Over Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi Calling)-this is a technology (it does not have all smartphones), which allows you to perform and accept phone calls over the Internet using a Wi-Fi network instead of a regular cellular network.

- Communication operators will turn off the connection by click of the fingers. A bad option, ”said the expert in the field of cybersecurity in a conversation with the New-Europe.