WhatsApp Immune to Internet Shutdowns, Censorship Through Proxy Support

January 10, 2023

Last week, WhatsApp parent Meta Platforms launched a proxy service to help bypass internet shutdowns or service bans of the messaging app. The company is rolling out proxy support globally for all of its ~2.4 billion users.

In a blog post, WhatsApp said the new proxy support is aimed at helping “people who continue to be denied the ability to reach their loved ones because of internet shutdowns.”

“Our wish for 2023 is that these internet shutdowns never occur,” the company added, citing the recent internet shutdown in Iran over civil protests spawned from the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022.

According to #KeepItOn, a coalition of over 244 civil society organizations, had 935 internet shutdownsOpens a new window across 74 countries between 2016 and 2021. Almost 60% (557) were instituted between 2019 and 2021.

In 2022, 23 countries shut down the internet 114 times, either partially or in its entirety, according to a studyOpens a new window , impacting 710 million users and with an economic cost of $23.79 billion.

Generally spurred by political, social and economic unrest or national security, internet shutdowns tend to be indiscriminate in terms of the users and may have a widespread impact, according to experts.

However, shutdowns can be catered to specific platforms, as highlighted in a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reportOpens a new window . “The modalities of shutdowns have evolved from blanket interventions to more targeted approaches, following the increased penetration of communications platforms and the emergence of new tools that have enabled targeted disruptions,” UNHCR’s report reads.

“After blanket disruptions of broadband and mobile connections, the most common interventions are the blocking of mobile services, 22 the targeted disruption of certain services and throttling. The increasing affordability of surveillance technologies that enable the covert blocking of certain platforms is also likely to lead to more targeted disruptions.”

Of the 557 shutdowns in the three years between 2019 and 2021, WhatsApp was affected in ~10% (55). However, the scale of the messaging service’s operations (almost 2.4 billion usersOpens a new window and more than two billion active users), even a slight disruption can affect millions of users.

See More: WhatsApp Leak: 360M Phone Numbers Freely Available on the Dark Web

According to Top10VPN, WhatsApp was the most-blocked platform in 2019, receiving 7,044 hours of government-mandated internet censorship. The app also features in the list of top five most-blocked platforms in 2022 (2,858 hours) behind Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, possibly because WhatsApp fundamentally varies from the influence that such algorithm-driven social media platforms have.

Meta, which recently settled the Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal with $725 million and was separately penalized $413 million for data processing practices, added that using a proxy would have no impact on user privacy and that end-to-end encryption will continue to function as intended. “Connecting via proxy maintains the high level of privacy and security that WhatsApp provides,” WhatsApp said.

“Your personal messages will still be protected by end-to-end encryption — ensuring they stay between you and the person you’re communicating with and are not visible to anyone in between, not the proxy servers, WhatsApp, or Meta.” However, using a third-party proxy will share a user’s IP address with the proxy provider.

Volunteers and organizations can create proxy servers on WhatsAppOpens a new window using a server with ports 80, 443 or 5222 available and a domain name (or subdomain) that points to the server’s IP address.

To use a proxy on WhatsApp on Android, ensure the app is updated with the latest build and click on the three vertical ellipsis in the top right corner while in the ‘Chats’ tab. Go to Settings > Storage and Data > Proxy > Use Proxy > Set Proxy (enter a proxy address here) > Save. The app will display a green checkmark sign upon successfully connecting with a proxy.

To connect to a WhatsApp proxy on an iPhone, go to Settings > Storage and Data > Proxy > Use Proxy > Save. Users should ensure they are using a proxy address from a trusted source.

Let us know if you enjoyed reading this news on LinkedInOpens a new window , TwitterOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window . We would love to hear from you!

Image source: Shutterstock

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Sumeet Wadhwani
Sumeet Wadhwani

Asst. Editor, Spiceworks Ziff Davis

An earnest copywriter at heart, Sumeet is what you'd call a jack of all trades, rather techs. A self-proclaimed 'half-engineer', he dropped out of Computer Engineering to answer his creative calling pertaining to all things digital. He now writes what techies engineer. As a technology editor and writer for News and Feature articles on Spiceworks (formerly Toolbox), Sumeet covers a broad range of topics from cybersecurity, cloud, AI, emerging tech innovation, hardware, semiconductors, et al. Sumeet compounds his geopolitical interests with cartophilia and antiquarianism, not to mention the economics of current world affairs. He bleeds Blue for Chelsea and Team India! To share quotes or your inputs for stories, please get in touch on sumeet_wadhwani@swzd.com
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