WhatsApp, YouTube, and Facebook Permanently Blocked in Russia
It is reported that since yesterday, the domains of WhatsApp, YouTube, Facebook, and a number of other services banned in Russia, have become inaccessible to users in the country.
Illustrative image. Photo: freepik.com
This is no longer about slowing down performance, but about the complete "invisibility" of these resources: their addresses have been removed from the national DNS system. As a result, when attempting to access a site, it is impossible to determine its IP address, and the system reports a non-existent domain. Thus, access to such sites has been effectively completely stopped.
In addition to the aforementioned platforms, the domains of BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the anonymous Tor browser, the social network Instagram, and other resources have also become inaccessible.
The use of the National Domain Name System by Russian providers, which is managed by Roskomnadzor, is mandated by the law on "sovereign internet." The use of alternative DNS services (e.g., Google DNS) has been consistently restricted by the authorities since 2021.