VPN, or virtual private network, is the last way for more aware Russians to access information that has not been censored by the Kremlin. For several years (and especially after the full-scale aggression against Ukraine in 2022), Moscow has been doing everything it can to cut off its citizens from independent news portals, primarily from Western countries.
VPN use banned in Russia since March. “Gateway to Hell”
The head of Russia’s Safer Internet League, Ekaterina Mizulina, has now confirmed rumors that have been circulating for some time that Moscow is clamping down on the use of VPN networks. At a meeting with high school students in Yekaterinburg, the propagandist stated that VPNs will most likely be blocked by the Russian government on March 1 this year. – they write, among others: and Belsat. “Yes, this will most likely happen,” she confirmed in response to a question about introducing a lockdown.
Mizulina also said that “VPNs, especially free ones, are a total gateway to hell” and added that by banning the use of VPNs – at least free ones – the Kremlin is trying to “protect people and devices.” She also explained that “completely blocking VPN networks” would be “technically impossible”, but the Kremlin will try to block at least the most popular services. The official reason for this decision – as Belsat writes – is the fact that, according to Moscow, VPNs “cause data leaks.”
“The Moscow Times” reminds that last year the Russian authorities informed about the threats related to the use of VPN services, which – according to the Russians – are responsible for leaks of personal data of Russian citizens. And although free, untested or suspicious VPN services may actually be a way for hackers to take over Internet users’ data, it is believed that this is only a pretext for a much more important goal for Moscow. VPNs allow Russians to bypass blocks imposed on many global news websites, from which citizens of the federation can learn, for example, that the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine is in fact not a “special military operation”.
Recently, China has also been fighting against VPN services. The authorities in Beijing have been censoring almost the entire Chinese Internet, blocking, among others, Western, English-language media, websites of American companies (e.g. Google search engine) and the most important social networking sites from across the Pacific (including Facebook). In return, the Chinese use Chinese search engines, social media platforms and websites approved by party censors.
Source: Gazeta
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