Russia blocks Signal messaging app as authorities tighten control over information

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s state communications watchdog says it has blocked access to the Signal messaging app, the latest move in the authorities efforts to tighten controls over information amid the fighting in Ukraine. The agency, Roskomnadzor, said Friday it made the decision because of Signal’s “violation of the requirements of Russian legislation.” Russian authorities have expanded their crackdown on dissent and free media after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. They have blocked multiple Russian-language media outlets critical of the Kremlin, and cut access to Twitter, which later became X, as well as Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. In the latest blow to the freedom of information, YouTube faced mass outages on Thursday.