Yazılar

WhatsApp Accuses Russia of Restricting Secure Communication

/in /tarafından

WhatsApp has accused Moscow of attempting to block millions of Russians from accessing secure communication after calls on the messaging app were restricted. The move comes as Russia promotes home-grown social media platforms and seeks tighter control over the country’s internet.

On Wednesday, Russia said it had started limiting some WhatsApp and Telegram calls, alleging that the foreign-owned platforms failed to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases. Text messaging and voice notes remain unaffected.

“WhatsApp is private, end-to-end encrypted, and defies government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people,” the company said, pledging to maintain encrypted services in Russia.

The restrictions follow a broader pattern of Russia clashing with foreign tech firms since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Meta’s Facebook and Instagram were blocked, YouTube speeds slowed, and numerous fines were issued to platforms that did not comply with Russian content and data regulations.

In July 2025, WhatsApp had a monthly reach of 97.3 million users in Russia, compared with 90.8 million for Telegram and 17.9 million for VK Messenger, a state-backed app. Russia’s population exceeds 140 million. Reports from online monitoring services and local media indicated connectivity issues in regions like Krasnodar, affecting services such as online maps.

The restrictions coincide with the promotion of a state-controlled messaging app, MAX, which is being integrated with government services. Critics warn that MAX could track user activity. Senior politicians are actively migrating to the app, encouraging followers to join.

“Ultimately, they want to control users and the information they receive,” said Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Internet Protection Society, a Russian digital rights group. He added that MAX may struggle to handle a large influx of users and that social resistance to forced migration is likely.

Human Rights Watch highlighted that Russia has been “meticulously expanding [its] legal and technological tools to carve out Russia’s section of the internet into a tightly controlled and isolated forum.” A new law approved by lawmakers further tightens censorship, penalizing citizens for searching online content deemed “extremist,” including through VPNs used to bypass internet blocks.

Second Italian Journalist Targeted with Paragon Spyware, Citizen Lab Reports

/in /tarafından

Citizen Lab, an internet watchdog group, has revealed that a second Italian journalist was targeted by Paragon spyware, escalating concerns over a surveillance scandal involving the Italian government and the U.S.-owned spyware company. The new report disclosed that Ciro Pellegrino, an investigative journalist at Fanpage, had his iPhone infected with Paragon’s sophisticated spyware.

Pellegrino joins Francesco Cancellato, Fanpage’s editor-in-chief, who earlier confirmed he was targeted by Paragon technology following WhatsApp alerts in January. Fanpage has been critical of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, notably exposing links between the ruling party’s youth wing and neo-Nazi activities, which has intensified controversy after allegations of surveillance on its journalists surfaced.

The Italian government and Paragon recently announced an end to their collaboration but gave conflicting accounts over who initiated the split. Paragon stated it had offered Italian officials tools to verify if its spyware was used against Cancellato, but these offers were reportedly declined. Italian authorities have not commented on the Citizen Lab findings.

Pellegrino described the spyware discovery as “horrible,” emphasizing that his phone holds deeply personal and professional data, including journalistic sources. This revelation casts doubt on the thoroughness of a recent Italian parliamentary investigation, which confirmed Paragon’s spyware use by Italian intelligence against migrant rescue activists but found no evidence of targeting Fanpage journalists.

Human rights advocate Natalia Krapiva of Access Now called for a reevaluation of the investigation, stating the new findings seriously question its adequacy. Opposition Democratic Party spokesperson Sandro Ruotolo demanded the parliamentary panel reopen its probe, seeking answers on why two journalists were surveilled.

Citizen Lab also disclosed that an unnamed European journalist was targeted with Paragon spyware but provided no further details. The parliamentary panel has reserved the right for further investigations but has not commented on the recent report.

Judge Rejects Class Action Lawsuit Over Google Chrome Privacy Claims

/in /tarafından

A U.S. federal judge ruled on Monday that people alleging Google illegally collected their personal data from Google Chrome browsers without syncing with Google accounts cannot proceed with a class action lawsuit against Alphabet’s unit.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, agreed with Google that claims should be handled individually to determine if millions of Chrome users understood and consented to the company’s data collection policies.

“Inquiries relating to Google’s implied consent defense will overwhelm the damages claims for all causes of action,” the judge wrote. She dismissed the proposed damages class action with prejudice, barring it from being filed again. Additionally, Chrome users were denied the ability to seek policy changes as a group.

Google’s Vice President of Litigation, Sandi Knight, said the company appreciated the decision and noted that Chrome Sync includes clear privacy controls. Plaintiffs’ lawyer David Straite declined to comment.

The ruling follows a 2024 federal appeals court decision instructing Judge Rogers to assess whether reasonable Chrome users consented to Google collecting their data during browsing. Plaintiffs argued that Chrome’s privacy notice misled users by stating they “don’t need to provide any personal information to use Chrome” and that Google would only collect data if users enabled the sync feature.

Judge Rogers had previously dismissed the case in December 2022 but continues to oversee two other privacy lawsuits against Google with different claims. The appeals court decision came after Google agreed in 2023 to destroy billions of data records to settle a lawsuit related to tracking users in Incognito mode.

Case: Calhoun et al v Google LLC, 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 22-16993.