- Russia’s State Duma proposes to create a list of approved VPNs
- The move comes as the Kremlin seeks to “reduce VPN use”
- The deputy also proposes targeted “smart” internet curbs
The Russian government is considering creating a list of approved VPN services, according to state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.
On Wednesday, the agency reported on a letter sent by State Duma Deputy Dmitry Gusev to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. In it, Gusev proposed the creation of a “VPN white” list to minimize inconvenience to citizens and businesses that rely on stable Internet connections for work.
As authorities step up efforts to ‘reduce VPN use’ through new restrictions, reports of widespread bank outages and business disruptions have emerged.
These are widely seen as a direct consequence of the current wave of aggressive blocks. By whitelisting specific services, the government hopes to exempt essential business tools from these technical disruptions.
In addition to VPNs, Gusev proposed a similar whitelist for Russian-based hosting providers to guarantee uninterrupted operations.
The deputy also warned against restricting mobile internet access for users verified on Gosuslugi – the state’s digital services portal – effectively proposing a whitelist of approved people after reports that the platforms blocked users who tried to access with a VPN enabled.
Gusev’s proposal advocates a move away from blunt, mass restrictions in favor of “smart traffic calming” mechanisms. This system will allow authorities to selectively reduce the bandwidth of unfriendly platforms, while ensuring that approved services continue to operate at normal speeds.
A shift towards total whitelisting?
Although these proposals are not yet legal, they signal an intention to move to a whitelisting censorship model.
The model – which blocks everything by default and only allows certain apps and websites – has reportedly already been tested in major cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The aggressive approach mirrors tactics recently implemented by Iranian authorities. Crucially, whitelisting makes it significantly more difficult to bypass state blocks. That’s because under such a system, circumvention tools — including VPNs and proxies — will also be limited.
But speaking to TechRadar, a prominent Russian opposition figure – who in March launched a website tracking the connection levels of popular Russian VPNs – Maxim Katz argued that Russia may find it harder to copy Iran’s success in this area.
“The Russian Internet is much more sophisticated than the Iranian Internet. It was developed for many years as a free Internet. So not only did everyone get used to it, but there are many ways to connect to different services. In comparison, the Iranian authorities only have a few lines to cut so that nothing works,” Katz told Techradar.
Beyond the technical hurdles, Katz believes the Kremlin lacks the political capital to completely cut Russia off from the global grid. “Most Russians are not politicized. Whether they are pro-Putin or neutral, they will still use the Internet – and they are not ready to give it up.”
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
