Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Viber app offers free calling for those affected by immigration ban

Lulu Chang
By

viber immigration ban free call
Sam Azgor/Flickr
If you have a friend or family member in one of the seven countries affected by the recently implemented immigration ban, Viber has a slight silver lining to offer you. Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of Viber’s parent company, Rakuten, has announced that the messaging service will allow for free calls between the United States and Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen. And it’s a two-way street. Not only will Americans not have to pay to dial out, but those in affected countries will not have to pay to communicate with folks in the U.S.

“Viber has always been committed to enabling people to connect freely and securely whenever and wherever they are,” said Viber CEO Michael Shmilov. “Under the current circumstances, we feel obligated to enable our users to remain close even when apart.”

Related

Viber set up its free calling service in a speedy manner, making things available within 24 hours to affected parties. And just because the calls are free doesn’t mean they’ll be any different in quality.

Viber, which has been around since 2010, already claims more than 800 million users across the world. And while messaging services seem to be a dime a dozen these days, Viber is different in that it lets you make calls to normal telephone numbers, including both mobile and landlines. That makes it particularly useful for those in countries where Wi-Fi and mobile service provisions aren’t as ubiquitous as they are in the U.S.

Download for iOS

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Airbnb hosts are offering free rooms to those displaced by California wildfires
airbnb offering free rooms to those displaced by california wildfires

The recent wildfires in California have devastated communities, taken lives, and left many of those affected in a deep state of shock.

The tragedy has also left many people without a home to return to or forced them from their neighborhoods, prompting Airbnb to activate its Open Homes program that offers free accommodation for displaced residents, as well as for people assisting with relief efforts.

Read more
Russia bans Popular messenger app Telegram, Kremlin must use new service
telegram

Telegram has been banned in Russia. On Friday, April 13, a court issued an order banning the popular messenger service, a decision that comes a week after Russian communication watchdog Roskomnadzor filed a lawsuit to limit users' access to the app. The showdown began to form when Telegram refused to allow Russian state security services to access user messages -- one of Telegram's defining features is its special secret chats, which make use of end-to-end encryption.

As it stands, more than 200 million users around the globe use Telegram to communicate in what is thought to be a safe and secure method. However, Russia's FSB Federal Security service claims that it must be able to read some of these messages in order to protect the state against certain dangers, including potential terrorist attacks. Telegram, however, has refused to turn over user messages, noting that it holds user privacy in the utmost regard.

Read more
Mysterious bans are affecting hundreds of 'Destiny 2' PC users

Destiny 2's long-awaited PC launch has arrived, which means a large swath of new Guardians are making their way into Bungie's shared world. Well, they are trying to, at least. Reports are coming in that users are being banned en masse -- often right after launching the game. Worse yet, the reason for the ban is entirely unclear.

Both Bungie's forums and Reddit are littered with confused messages from new PC players. There were initial fears that third-party applications, like overlays, running alongside the game triggered the ban. According to a response from Bungie community rep Cozmo, that's not the case.

Read more