Roskomnadzor, Russia’s communications and media regulator, will try to block access to VPN services from Russia next year, a senator from Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Russian demand for VPN services, which allow you to hide your IP address and access sites blocked in Russia, has soared since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Moscow subsequently banned all Western social networks in turn.
Artem Sheykin, a senator from Putin’s party, said on Tuesday that Roskomnadzor’s order banning VPNs in Russia will take effect on March 1, 2024.
“From March 1, 2024, the order prohibiting VPN services from providing access to sites banned in Russia will enter into force,” he said, the state agency RIA Novosti reports.
Reuters notes that it tried to get confirmation of the information from Roskomnadzor, but the phone of the press service of the Russian agency was answered only by an automatic message, in which the song “Don’t Worry Be Happy” by the American singer Bobby is broadcast. McFerrin.
Roskomnadzor also did not respond to an e-mailed request to comment on the information.
Russia banned Western social networks shortly after the start of the invasion of Ukraine
As for the Russian senator who made the statement, he stressed that it was particularly important to block Russia’s access to the services of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s company that owns Facebook and Instagram, as well as WhatsApp messages.
A Moscow court recognized Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta company as an extremist organization and banned Facebook and Instagram in Russia since March last year.
Sheytin said on Tuesday that the court order also applies to VPN services that provide access to these platforms, which are banned in Russia.
Russia also blocked access to Twitter last March, but several Russian officials and authorities still use the newly renamed “X” social media platform, including former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev and the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Experts are generally wary of attempts by authorities to block VPN services without implementing a broader firewall for internet access in the country.
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Source: Hot News
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