As the Kremlin seeks to gain greater control over internet access, it is being felt by everyone – from office workers waiting for a page to load; teenagers connecting to VPNs; taxi drivers struggling to find their way around chaotic Moscow without online navigation, Reuters reports.
The Russian government has been periodically disrupting internet service in various regions across the country, while also restricting the use of messaging apps and shutting down dozens of virtual private servers (VPNs) used to circumvent the bans. Mobile internet services in central Moscow, St. Petersburg and other major cities have been disrupted and inaccessible every day for the past week, according to Reuters journalists and eight foreign diplomats. Asked about the restrictions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that the measures were taken partly because foreign companies refuse to comply with Russian law and partly to avoid attacks by Ukrainian drones.
The internet restrictions this year have been accompanied by new laws requiring mobile phone operators to cut off service to certain customers at the request of the Federal Security Service (FSB). The new laws also give the FSB the right to set up its own network of pre-trial detention centres.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the broader aim of tightening online controls is to gain more control over the population, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine. Public support is set to erode as the conflict drags on. And if the war ends soon,
Russian officials want to prepare for any dissent and unrest that could be caused by the large numbers of soldiers returning home.
After Moscow’s war in Afghanistan ended in 1989, the 1990s were marked by a significant increase in crime, directly linked to the large number of soldiers returning home and finding themselves on the margins of society. The chaos at the time was further exacerbated by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov said that both the government and security services remember what was happening at that time – the country collapsed, the security services were divided, and the situation was catastrophic. Security services are now trying to figure out how to keep the situation within limits under different scenarios.
Two sources in Russia said that Moscow has studied the experience of other countries, especially China and Iran, and has ordered authorities to develop a way to block both mobile and fixed internet connections, while simultaneously controlling online communications.
After a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia introduced the most restrictive laws since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Foreign diplomats working in Moscow said that this year the internet has been restricted much more than ever before.
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