How to Use Signal App in Russia: Solve Signal Ban

Why Russia Blocked Signal?

According to reliable news reports, blocking Signal is the latest move by Russia's state communications regulator to tighten information control amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

Signal is a communication app renowned for its strong end-to-end encryption, making it particularly popular among Russian journalists. Due to its robust security, Russian authorities view Signal's encryption as a violation of their national laws, as it hinders the government's ability to intercept messages. So to prevent terrorism and extremism from using Signal for malicious purposes, Russian authorities decided to block access to Signal.

Since the Russian president Putin deployed troops to Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has implemented various measures to control information flow during the war. With centralized censorship of communication apps and streaming platforms not feasible, using sovereignty to completely ban these apps on the Internet seems to be the only way.

In addition to Signal, Russia has also banned access to X (i.e. Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram. For the general public, this wave of bans may not be over, and they may need to face the upcoming YouTube ban.

💡To get more info about the YouTube ban in Russia, click the link.

How Is Signal Banned in Russia?

After the official implementation of the Signal ban, Russian users can’t use the Signal app normally.

When enter your phone number to log in or sign up, a spinning white circle will appear in the lower right corner of the screen that keeps spinning to indicate that it is loading. After a prolonged wait, a pop-up as shown below will inform you that you can't connect to the service.

And for logged-in users, you'll find that you can't send or receive any messages. Based on the provided real screenshots below, you'll notice that there is no “✔︎” icon, indicating successful delivery, in the bottom-right corner of each message box.

If you're already in this situation, don't spend too much time checking the network connection - using a VPN to access Signal in Russia is the right way to go.

How to Access Signal in Russia?

When you want to send a message to a friend via Signal in Russia, a VPN can ensure successful delivery.

By routing your internet traffic to servers located in other regions/countries, a premium VPN can hide your real IP address and utilize VPN encryption and VPN obfuscation to turn app data into regular traffic, thus solving the Signal ban in Russia.

In the following tutorial, X-VPN will be used as a demo tool, which is one of the best free VPNs available. In addition to having all the features mentioned above, it also offers a truly free version with unlimited data and no login.

Here are the simple steps below.

Step 1. Hit the button below to obtain this free VPN download on your device.

Step 2. As shown below, hit the option to select the server in the US, UK, or other countries that have no Signal ban. Then Quick Connect to it.

💡Note: For free users, we choose the fastest server automatically for you from 1000+ free servers based on your geo-location.

Step 3. Now back to the Signal app, and you will find the message can be sent and received normally.

💡Attention: The above screenshots are both from real cases.

Conclusion

As the war continues, social network regulations like the Signal ban in Russia will continue and are expected to grow. Let’s hit the button below to download X-VPN - changing your IP address is always the easiest and most effective way to solve such bans.