- Russia’s State Duma proposes creating a list of approved VPNs
- The move comes as the Kremlin seeks to “reduce VPN use”
- MP also suggests specific “smart” Internet slowdowns
The Russian government is considering creating a list of approved VPN services, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
On Wednesday, the agency reported on a letter sent by State Duma deputy Dmitry Gusev to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. In it, Gusev proposed the creation of a “white VPN” list to minimize inconvenience to citizens and businesses who depend on stable Internet connections to work.
As authorities step up efforts to “reduce VPN usage” through new restrictions, reports of widespread banking outages and business disruptions have emerged.
These are generally considered a direct consequence of the current wave of aggressive blocks. By whitelisting specific services, the government hopes to exempt essential corporate tools from these technical disruptions.
Beyond VPNs, Gusev suggested a similar whitelist for Russia-based hosting providers to ensure uninterrupted operations.
The MP also warned against restricting mobile internet access to verified users on Gosuslugi, the state’s digital services portal, effectively suggesting a whitelist of approved people after reports that the platforms blocked users who tried to access with a VPN enabled.
Gusev’s proposal advocates moving away from massive, forceful restrictions in favor of “intelligent traffic deceleration” mechanisms. This system would allow authorities to selectively reduce bandwidth for hostile platforms while ensuring that approved services continue to operate at normal speeds.
A move towards total whitelisting?
While these suggestions are not yet law, they indicate an intention to transition toward a whitelist censorship model.
The model, which blocks everything by default and only allows certain apps and websites, has already been tested in major cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The aggressive approach reflects tactics recently implemented by Iranian authorities. Crucially, whitelisting makes bypassing state blocks much more difficult. This is because under such a system, circumvention tools including VPNs and proxies will also be restricted.
However, speaking to TechRadar, a prominent Russian opposition figure, who in March launched a website tracking the connectivity levels of popular Russian VPNs, Maxim Katz argued that Russia may find it harder to replicate Iran’s success in this area.
“The Russian Internet is much more sophisticated than the Iranian Internet. It was developed for many years as a free Internet. So not only did everyone get used to it, but there are many ways to connect to different services. In comparison, the Iranian authorities only have to cut a couple of lines for nothing to work,” Katz told Techradar.
Beyond the technical obstacles, Katz believes the Kremlin lacks the political capital to completely isolate Russia from the global network. “Most Russians are not politicized. Whether they are pro-Putin or neutral, they still want to use the Internet and are not willing to give it up.”
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