Russia plans to ban its citizens from using VPN services. With the help of the services, Russians have been able to circumvent state-imposed restrictions to access, for example, Facebook and Instagram.
Russia threatens to tighten its internet control. It wants to block VPN services that allow access to banned sites. SERGEI ILNITSKY
Quoting the Russian RIA news agency Reuters according to Russia wants to control its citizens’ internet use more tightly than before. Now various VPN services are getting into its teeth.
Reuters reports that the popularity of VPN services has increased in Russia after the country attacked Ukraine. At that time, citizens’ access to, for example, Facebook and Instagram was restricted, which is why there were more orders for VPN services than before.
With the help of a VPN service, Russians have been able to disguise their online traffic so that it appears to be coming from somewhere other than Russia. In practice, the services have therefore made it possible to circumvent the obstacles set by the state.
Russian senator: Meta is an extremist organization
Senator of the United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin’s policies Artem Sheikin considers it “very important” to block US Meta’s platforms from the country’s citizens. In addition to Facebook and Instagram, Meta also owns, among other things, the messaging service Whatsapp.
– On March 1, 2024, a regulation will come into force that blocks VPN services that allow access to sites banned in Russia, Sheikin said and underlined his message by calling Meta an extremist organization.
On the way to North Korea?
If Russia succeeds in preventing the use of VPN services, it will be a significant tightening of the control of citizens’ internet use.
For example, North Korea is also very closed in terms of its internet. In 2016, we told how there were only 28 official websites with the .kp web extension in the country at the time. The websites present, among other things, the country’s food culture and science.
Its citizens do not have free access to North Korea’s limited network, i.e. to the country’s own intranet. Even fewer have the opportunity to use the internet as we know it and to access, for example, websites of Western media or social media services.
Source: Reuters