- Mobile Internet is restricted in Moscow and St. Petersburg since March 5
- The Kremlin also announced plans to block Telegram and VPNs.
- An independent media outlet was punished for advertising VPN
Internet freedoms in Russia appear to be deteriorating rapidly.
Residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg have reported widespread outages to their mobile Internet connections for almost an entire week. Public Wi-Fi hotspots have also been disabled, and many analysts worry that the restrictions could serve as a precursor to the introduction of a “whitelist” of allowed apps and websites.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities have said that Telegram, which has approximately 95 million users in the country, will soon be inaccessible even with a VPN.
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Government official Andrey Svintsov said the country’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, now has the technical ability to selectively restrict VPN traffic. The BBC has reported that the measures are expected to be introduced within the next three to six months.
Finally, an independent media outlet is facing legal action for allegedly advertising a VPN on Telegram. Although a 2024 law banned the distribution of tooltips to circumvent censorship, this is reportedly the first time an independent publication has been penalized under the legislation.
Towards a ‘white list’ system?
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said the Internet shutdowns are measures to “ensure the safety of our citizens.” However, there is growing concern among digital rights groups that the disruptions are linked to the introduction of a whitelisting system.
The system would mean Russians would only be able to access government-approved websites and platforms. Such an approach (as has since happened in Iran) would likely make VPN access considerably more difficult.
“Only VPN tunnels that are pre-approved by state authorities will continue to work,” Mazay Banzaev, founder of Russia-based Amnezia VPN, told TechRadar in an interview earlier this year.
For now, it appears the Russians are planning for the disruptions to continue; Sales of walkie-talkies, pagers and road atlases in Moscow reportedly increased by 27%, 73% and 170%, respectively, as residents seek reliable offline communication.
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