In mid August, Russian censorship agency Roskomnadzor started “partially restricting” calls on Telegram and WhatsApp. Alongside attempts to completely ban WhatsApp and series of social media outages throughout July, Russians have been steadily severed from the global internet, with some calling the current landscape a “digital prison.” Unfortunately, this is just one of the Kremlin’s latest efforts in a decades-long task of suppressing internet freedom.
Putin views control of the internet as key to maintaining power; indeed, controlling information flows is a key way to bolster his own propaganda and silence any domestic or foreign dissent. In 2012, Roskomnadzor, created a “blacklist” of prohibited websites, targeting social media and news platforms.
The Kremlin has since been working on its “Ru-Net,” or a Russia-restricted internet that separates civilian platforms from the rest of the world. Immediately following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin stymied independent media and limited citizens’ access to social media platforms, especially Meta-owned platforms and Western news sites.
In addition, Putin signed a law that criminalizes any divergence from the state’s talking points about the Russian operation, under threat of imprisonment.
Ironically, the Russian government still uses the very same platforms which it outlaws to spread its propaganda in the West. With each law Putin passes to suppress basic internet freedoms, he uses the explanation of protecting Russian culture and identity from outside encroachment.
However, Putin is now shifting towards not just controlling the internet but controlling users themselves. On July 31, President Vladimir Putin signed a new amendment into law that imposes fines on individuals who access or even seek content labeled as “extremist.” The law punishes citizens with fines ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 rubles ($37-$62) for deliberately searching for extremist materials online, even if done for academic, legal, or journalistic reasons. The amendment also criminalizes the use and advertisement of VPNs or other tools that allow access to restricted information.
This law represents a profound shift in the Russian legal system: previous censorship laws focused on producers and distributors of banned content; however, this measure targets ordinary users simply trying to access information.
This law represents a concerning shift in the state’s relationship with cyberspace, from controlling content to policing thought.
Cyberlaw expert Sarkis Darbinyan, a Kremlin-designated foreign agent, compared the law to Belarus’s digital repression model, arguing people will now be “afraid to read, watch, or subscribe to prohibited content, even if it is necessary for work, human rights, education, or understanding.” Digital rights advocates warn that the law may encourage impromptu spot checks of mobile devices to prove violations, leading to increased use of incognito browsing and other evasive measures by ordinary citizens.
In criminalizing the act of seeking out information, this law represents a concerning shift in the state’s relationship with cyberspace, from controlling content to policing thought. It threatens to erode the already limited space for dissent, education, and civil society in Russia, as well as communication for citizens. The West should respond by supporting Russian civil society organizations, digital rights activists, and academic institutions that rely on open access to information.
Putin cannot possibly shut down VPNs and the search for information, and the US should take advantage of this futile effort. Governments and international tech companies may support secure and anonymous VPN-style tools that help Russian users access reliable information while minimizing legal risk.
The world must reject Putin’s guise of protecting Russian freedoms and values and denounce the bans as continued efforts to cordon off Russia’s internet and make communication technology unreachable for its citizens.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.