Briar, Assange’s recommended messaging app for Ukrainians

Also Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, intervenes in his own way on the Ukrainian question. From a UK prison, he invited Ukrainians to dump Briar, a messaging app that can be useful before the internet connection in the country is suspended. The application, in fact, would be “designed to allow people to communicate safely with each other in exactly this situation”. Or at least that’s what Assange reports. Let’s go and see what it is about in more detail. And above all because it can be so useful in this historical moment.

Briar: how the messaging app works

Last week WikiLeaks launched a tweet announcing that Julian Assange was suggesting all Ukrainians to download the Briar App. A messaging platform that guarantees considerable security to the users who use it. Let’s try to understand what it is and why it is ideal for the Ukrainian situation. As reported by the same site, “Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists and anyone else who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate”. But why is it considered so safe?

First of all, the application it does not rely on a central serverwhich means that a user’s account – complete with nickname and password – remains stored on your device, and not on the Network. Therefore, if the App is uninstalled or if the password is lost, it is impossible to access the account. Given this technology, messages sent between users also come synchronized on the respective devices. Reason why Assange suggested that the Ukrainians download Briar. If the internet no longer works in the country, the application may sync via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Conversely, in the event that the network were to be functional, the application would use the decentralized Tor network, which would be enough to guarantee the safety of users. Beyond this, end-to-end encryption protects the content of conversations. To such an extent that it does not even allow filtering by keyword.

Furthermore also the contact list is encrypted and stored directly on the user’s device, which can add people to their list via invitation or Bluetooth connection. In short, an incredibly secure platform. But as far as we know, Briar is much more than just a messaging app. This allows users to also create protected groups, forums and blogs, thus allowing him to access contents very different from just messages. Finally, after the latest update in 2021, users now also have the option to share the App offline to other devices. And it also allows you to store data on SD cards or flash drives. In short, not just a messaging app, but a real survival kit.

Still, Briar’s plans for the future appear to be even more ambitious. “We will use Briar’s data synchronization capabilities to support distributed and secure applications, including crisis mapping and collaborative document editing,” reports the organization working on the App. The goal, in fact, would be to “allow people in any country to create safe spaces where they can discuss any topic, plan events and organize social movements”. And this is enough to understand why Julian Assange cares so much.