Internet in Russia
Highlights
- Russia limits many services on the Internet in its country
- Russia took this step to deal with fake news
- Its impact will be seen on the Internet of the world
Russia Online Network: Russian Internet users are experiencing an escalation of digital control (the Digital Iron Curtain) since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The ‘Digital Iron Curtain’ is a political, military and ideological barrier on social media that separates one from a particular region or class. Russian authorities blocked access to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, along with all major opposition news sites. Internet users face administrative and criminal charges for allegedly spreading misleading information online about Russia’s actions in Ukraine under new tougher laws to combat fake news.
VPN block in Russia
Major Western technology companies, from Airbnb to Apple, limited their activities in Russia. Many Russians downloaded virtual private network software to try to access banned sites and services in the first week of the war. As of the end of April, 23 percent of Russian Internet users reported using VPNs with varying regularity. State media watchdog Roskomnadzor is blocking VPNs to prevent people from violating government censorship and increased its efforts in June 2022.
Pioneers of Digital Sovereignty
Russia had lobbied to retain government sovereignty over information and telecommunications since the early 1990s. Russia, weakened after the Cold War, could not compete with the US on an economic, technological or military level. Instead, Russian leaders called for curbing America’s growing global influence and maintaining Russia’s great power status. In 2000, Russia joined the leadership of the global movement for Internet sovereignty with China’s military to demonstrate the re-emergence of its powers. After Putin became president in March 2012, the Kremlin focused on controlling Russian cyberspace.
sovereign internet law
In April 2019, Russian authorities took their aspirations for digital sovereignty to another level with the so-called Sovereign Internet Law. This law opened the door to the abuse of individual users and the isolation of the Internet community. Passing the law, Putin clarified the national DNS, arguing that it would allow the Russian Internet to function if ICANN takes hostile action and cuts Russia off from the global Internet. Note that DNS is the global Internet core database.
dividing the global internet
The Russo-Ukraine war has undermined the integrity of the global Internet by Russian action and the moves of technology companies in Western countries. In an unprecedented move, social media blocked Russia’s access to state media. While this cannot be fought in a war zone, global ‘interconnectivity’ has become something that is at stake in the Russo-Ukraine war.