Blocking of Messengers: Countries and Ways to Bypass the Blocks

Messengers have become an essential part of life—they allow us to communicate with friends, colleagues, and clients. Unfortunately, in a number of countries, messengers are being blocked. In this article, we will tell you which countries have banned TikTok, where Telegram is blocked, and also introduce you to local messengers that we recommend for communicating with people living in these countries.

Chinese Messengers

Blocked:

• WhatsApp
• Telegram
• Signal
• Facebook Messenger
• Viber
• Line (Japanese messenger)

Popular local applications:

• WeChat: Here you can exchange messages, make video calls, send photos and videos. You can also pay for purchases, call a taxi, and make doctor appointments.
• QQ: Communication, games, and blogging.
• DingTalk and Feishu: Work messengers from Alibaba and Bytedance.

Messengers in South Korea

Despite the general level of internet freedom, in South Korea, you can highlight several messengers whose access may be restricted or blocked in certain situations:

• Telegram is usually available, but in 2021 there were instances when the government tried to limit it due to concerns about its use for illegal purposes such as drugs and porn extortion.
• Kakaotalk: The most popular messenger in South Korea, but sometimes the government requests user data and monitors their activity, raising privacy concerns.

Messengers in India

Blocked:

• WeChat
• TikTok
• Hike Messenger

Popular local messengers:

• Hike Messenger: Focuses on social game challenges and virtual reality.
• JioChat and Bharat Messenger: Offers messaging, video calls, and the ability to subscribe to channels.

Messengers in the UAE

A list of applications with possible issues:

• WhatsApp: You won’t be able to make voice and video calls via WhatsApp, but you can send messages.
• Skype: Video calls and voice calls via Skype are blocked. You can chat, but the connection is not always stable.
• FaceTime (Apple): FaceTime calls are mostly unavailable in the UAE.
• Facebook Messenger: Calls and video calls through Messenger do not work, but you can send messages.
• Viber: Voice and video calls via Viber are blocked, although messages may sometimes work.
• Google Duo: This service does not work for calls and video calls.

Permitted local applications for calls and messages:

• Botim: Has become popular among locals and expats as it allows you to make international calls.
• YzerChat: A local alternative with support for voice and video calls, as well as text messages.
• Voico: Supports voice and video calls, approved for use in the UAE, and actively used by the locals.
• C'Me and HiU Messenger: Actively promoted by local telecommunications companies.

Kazakhstan Messengers

In Kazakhstan, there is no official list of completely banned messengers, unlike some other countries. However, temporary blockages sometimes occur.

Local applications:

• Aitu Messenger (Aitu): Provides text and voice messaging, calls, video calls, as well as built-in bots to perform various tasks.
• Naimi Chat: Actively used for corporate interaction.
• Sary-Arka: Less known among the general public but aimed at users who care about data security.

Despite the presence of local messengers, Kazakhs are more actively using popular international platforms that often offer more features and a more mature infrastructure.

Messengers in Turkey

In Turkey, messengers are sometimes blocked due to protests or political events. For example, Instagram (owned by Meta, recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) was recently blocked. The reasons and duration of the blockages are unknown.
Residents of Turkey are increasingly turning to local messengers, which may be more resilient to political restrictions and work better with local services. Here are some of them:

• BiP: A popular messenger from Turkcell with features for exchanging text, voice, and video messages, as well as digital channels for news and entertainment. It has a disappearing messages function.
• Yaay: A social network and messenger from Turk Telekom, allowing you to share news, photos, and videos, chat in private messages, and blog.
• Dedi: A messenger focused on privacy.
• YaaniMail Messenger: Integrated with the YaaniMail postal service from Turk Telekom, allows you to exchange messages and files, synchronize contacts, and your mailbox.

Russian Messengers

In recent years, several messengers have been blocked in Russia due to a refusal to provide user data or inappropriate content. Here are the main examples:

• LinkedIn was blocked in Russia in November 2016 due to storing Russian user data outside the country.
• Zello: Blocked in April 2017 for refusing to cooperate with Roskomnadzor.
• Telegram: Was blocked in April 2018 for refusing to hand over encryption keys to authorities. The ban was lifted in June 2020 after the company promised to help combat terrorism.
• WeChat in Russia: Was temporarily blocked in May 2017.

Several popular applications have been developed in Russia (besides Telegram and ICQ):

• VK Messenger
• TamTam from Mail.Ru Group (VK)
• Yandex Messenger

In conclusion

Although the blockages continue, many have already mastered the methods of registration in messengers and foreign platforms. One such method is buying a virtual number through the REG-SMS service. We are ready to help you stay connected, maintain business contacts, attract new customers, and preserve anonymity. If you have any questions, our support service is always available.