Critics have indicted Russian VPN Crackdown of endeavouring to mutilate the internet as a political threat. When the Russian government started a crackdown on virtual private networks (VPNs). VPN services and apps let the internet users show up as if they are in some other country to the one in which they are actually located. It allows users to stay anonymous. Furthermore, it permits users to approach sites that are blacklisted in some countries. However, a few authorized VPNs are completely safe to use; such as ExpressVPN and NordVPN.
Russian VPN Crackdown Story:
Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, passed a law on Sunday to enforce inflexible restrictions on VPN providers. This started the Russian VPN crackdown. Compelling them to adhere to Russia’s list of blacklisted sites. Apparently, it was a step forward to fight extremism.
In the same manner, this law also wants to message apps to be connected to phone numbers. Hence it will be easier to recognize users.
“I think the regulation is a bit outdated and very difficult to implement,” said Andrei Soldatov, the author of a recent book on the internet in Russia. “But this law is still very dangerous because it means all the internet service providers will be in violation, and this will be a good tool with which to put pressure on them.”
Russia’s internet watchdog, Roskomnadzor, maintains a list of thousands of blacklisted websites.
Human Rights Groups Criticizes Russian VPN Crackdown:
A VPN provider, pulled out its server from Russia last year. They did it because the government already seized some of its servers. That VPN provider said it would not abide with any of that order.
“The newly signed law will likely be used to compel VPNs to go against their ethos and censor what the Russian government wants,” declared in a blog post.
China has also launched a crackdown on VPN services recently. There is a difference between the Chinese crackdown and Russian VPN crackdown initiative. Russia has not banned VPN products.
Soldatov said, ”the law will be implausible to satisfy international VPN providers to abide and said the software which allows anonymous browsing, was “the elephant in the room” and very difficult to control.
He said to make it sure Russians were unable to access blacklisted sites, the government need to establish a better sophisticated filtering system.
Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor. He responsible for exposing US government surveillance program. He criticized the law.“Banning the ‘unauthorized’ use of basic internet security tools makes Russia both less safe and less free. This is a tragedy of policy,” Snowden tweeted. He added:
