Russia's VPN Services Fail Amid New Crackdown
Users in Russia experienced widespread failures of VPN services on October 14, with reports of blocked access to restricted online resources. Authorities also discussed new measures to regulate internet traffic and increase control over hosting providers and tools used to bypass censorship.
Consensus
- Users in Russia experienced widespread failures of VPN services.
- The disruptions occurred on October 14.
- The failures affected access to blocked online resources.
- The Russian government is discussing measures to increase control over internet traffic and hosting providers.
- The government is considering stricter regulations on tools used to bypass internet restrictions.
Points of divergence
- An alternative messaging app called TRUBA was promoted as a way to communicate without using VPN, supporting regular messaging, calls, and video calls. — tg_moscowmap
- The Ministry of Digital Development is considering introducing a fee for international internet traffic exceeding 50 GB. — vm
- The Ministry of Digital Development plans to strengthen oversight of hosting companies and may label providers as dishonest if they host prohibited content or tools for circumventing blocks. — vm
- The Investigative Committee of Russia has developed a draft law to increase penalties for crimes involving ICT, AI, VPNs, and proxy servers. — vm
Coverage (2 sources)
- In Russia a new wave of VPN blocks has begun — users are massively complaining that their services have stopped working — Новости Москвы
- Massive failure in the operation of VPN services occurred in Russia — Вечерняя Москва