this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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Signal has already said they'd "leave Sweden first".
But what does that mean today, when the Internet is non-local, and I can run my own VPN with Wireguard or Tailscale?
It probably won't be in the Play store when in Sweden, yes you'll still be able to work around it.
That just means they don't offer their service there officially and don't offer support
Yea, meaningless (not to criticism Signal, good for them for saying so). Just meaningless from Sweden government perspective - it's not like they can simply block Signal. They could, but it would take a lot of effort, and it would be a continually losing game. As I mentioned, I can run a Wireguard/Tailscale network at home, or on a VPS not in Sweden. Good luck figuring out what traffic is in my stream.
It's feasible, but the effort on their part increases non-linearly with every person that does this.
The first thing you need to understand is: if any government is demanding a back door to a messenger in the name of law enforcement, they are lying. It is simple as that.
Everybody spending more than 10 seconds on the subject knows that there are hundreds of alternatives out there. And somebody actually needing a way to keep illegal activities hidden will just switch over to something else.
There is only one reason to push for such an idea (and always for the popular messenger options of course): Wanting to surveil ordinary citizens that don't think much about which platform they use. Because everyone else will be gone from the platform in the blink of an eye.
So this means exactly nothing for you if you want to keep using Signal. Because they won't stop you and they won't care. You are not the target if you actually think about consequences. They aim at the majority that will just move on to the next popular mainstream option over time once Signal isn't available in the domestic app store anymore... hopefully (or not... depending on your perspective) to an option that will not resist demands for an backdoor when the time comes.
Well, yea, we know that.
But saying they'll block anything without a back door is meaningless, as anyone can run their own VPN these days, and a government attempting to block it is not very smart, as it'll take a lot more effort for them to constantly try to track down the connections.
China can do it because they control all exits from the country network, and will take aggressive pysical action against someone bypassing their controls. And yet people still maintain connections that The Great Firewall can't block.