Russia's Telegram ban doesn't seem to be working out so well.
On Wednesday, virtual private network provider NordVPN said Russian users have been flocking to its service to bypass the ban, which went into effect on April 16. Since then, NordVPN has seen a "300 percent increase of Russian users," the company's CMO Marty P. Kamden said in a statement.
"We are having a lot of first-time users from Russia," Kamden said. "People simply need to connect to a VPN server to reach any IP address where they can download Telegram. Many Russians are becoming more technically savvy because of the Telegram block and will now be able to use VPN to unblock other sites blocked in Russia."
A VPN creates a virtual encrypted tunnel between you and a remote server operated by a VPN service. All external internet traffic is routed through this tunnel, so your data is secure from prying eyes. Best of all, your computer appears to have the IP address of the VPN server, masking your identity.
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Russian state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor blocked Telegram over the company's repeated refusal to hand over the encryption keys to its messaging service. The country's Federal Security Service has been demanding the access, citing Telegram's use among terrorists, including by a suicide bomber who killed 15 people in St. Petersburg in April 2017.
Telegram's co-founder Pavel Durov says that complying with Russian demands is "not technically feasible." The messaging service offers end-to-end encryption, meaning that Telegram itself has no access to the content of messages.
Meanwhile, to enforce the ban, Russia has blocked Google and Amazon-owned IP addresses Telegram was using to continue operating in the country. As a result, some Russian users are having problems accessing Google services like Search, Gmail, and push notifications for Android apps, according TechCrunch.
"We are aware of reports that some users in Russia are unable to access some Google products, and are investigating those reports," a Google spokesperson told the news outlet.