The head of the messaging app Signal, which offers encrypted communication, has addressed complaints from users after the platform was affected by last week's global Amazon Web Services outage.
Signal prides itself on being “an independent non-profit” and has gained a loyal following. The app was in the spotlight this year after senior US officials inadvertently disclosed military plans to attack the Houthis in Yemen.
In a post on social media, Signal's president Meredith Whittaker said she was surprised to learn that so many users had not realised that the app relies partially on AWS technology.
“We use encryption to make sure no one but you – not AWS, not Signal, not anyone – can access your communications,” Ms Whittaker wrote.
“The question isn’t 'why does Signal use AWS?' It’s to look at the infrastructural requirements of any global, real-time, mass comms platform and ask how it is that we got to a place where there’s no realistic alternative to AWS and the other hyperscalers,” she said.
There's a “concentration of power” that enables only a few companies, which limits the choices available to smaller firms and significantly affects apps relying on data infrastructure, she added.
Ms Whittaker is not alone in her criticism of the Big Tech landscape, where a handful of companies exert enormous influence.
In the hours after last week's AWS outage, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren was blunt in her assessment.
“If a company can break the entire internet, they are too big,” she said on X. “It's time to break up Big Tech.”
That post, however, came under criticism in the form of a community note and was condemned by some users who said that AWS is not a monopoly, but rather, “represents 30 per cent of the web”.
“Senator Warren also overlooks the fact that many providers went down because their services relied on a single AWS region, a malpractice that is not Amazon's fault,” the community note read.
Although the AWS disruption was largely resolved within 48 hours, the debate over how to prevent similar blackouts has shown no sign of slowing down.
For Signal, the entire incident is a symptom of a larger problem in the tech world.
“My silver lining hope is that AWS going down can be a learning moment, in which the risks of concentrating the nervous system of our world in the hands of a few players become very clear,” Ms Whittaker wrote.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Need to know
When: October 17 until November 10
Cost: Entry is free but some events require prior registration
Where: Various locations including National Theatre (Abu Dhabi), Abu Dhabi Cultural Center, Zayed University Promenade, Beach Rotana (Abu Dhabi), Vox Cinemas at Yas Mall, Sharjah Youth Center
What: The Korea Festival will feature art exhibitions, a B-boy dance show, a mini K-pop concert, traditional dance and music performances, food tastings, a beauty seminar, and more.
For more information: www.koreafestivaluae.com
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
