- Russia’s media regulator has proposed a “state VPN” for IT specialists
- Roskomnadzor seeks to restore access to developer platforms inadvertently blocked by its own VPN crack
- Industry experts worry the tool could enable state surveillance and create a “privileged level” of internet users
In a deeply ironic twist, Russia’s federal media regulator, Roskomnadzor, plans to create a unified “state VPN” to help the country’s IT specialists circumvent its own aggressive internet restrictions. The proposal aims to solve a problem of the government’s own making: its war on censorship circumvention tools now prevents developers from accessing essential foreign coding resources.
The plan was revealed at a meeting on June 8 between Roskomnadzor’s deputy head, Oleg Terlyakov, and several IT companies. As first reported by independent Russian news outlet The Bell, the meeting was called after a wave of complaints from developers who found themselves cut off from vital international platforms. These include the code-sharing site GitHub, repositories for the Python programming language, and the design tool Figma.
Instead of loosening its grip, the regulator’s proposed solution is a government-controlled VPN designed for “those who really need it.”
The move highlights a growing conflict in Russia: the state’s desire for a tightly controlled Internet clashes with the practical needs of its strategically important technology industry.
Even if a VPN is the right tool for the job, the standard for secure access is to trust one of the best VPN services, which prioritize user privacy through revised no-logs policies, something a government-run tool is unlikely to offer.
A cure that is worse than the disease?
Details about this United States VPN are still scarce, but the reaction from Russia’s IT community has been overwhelmingly negative.
Instead of welcoming the proposal, developers and industry experts have branded the idea “shady”. Their biggest fear is that a centralized, state-controlled VPN is the perfect tool for monitoring and surveillance.
Routing all traffic through a single, government-controlled gateway would give Roskomnadzor unprecedented visibility into the work of any developer using it. A source who attended the meeting told reporters: “Cutting off Russians from international development tools will be even easier if everyone starts using the same VPN.”
There is also fear that it could backfire internationally. “It could easily block access from abroad, and the idea itself seems shady,” another source from a Russian IT association told The Bell.
The proposal, commentators fear, also risks creating a two-tier internet where a “privileged caste with full access will emerge.”
Russia’s War on VPNs
This latest development is just one chapter in the Kremlin’s long-running battle against tools that offer Russians a window into the uncensored Internet.
While Roskomnadzor has been blocking access to popular VPN services for years, the blocking has now intensified as Russian providers have committed since April to detect and block active VPN connections.
Recently, the country’s censorship body was even accused of launching DDoS attacks against VPN providers in an attempt to disrupt their services. Despite these aggressive measures, Russian officials have also had to admit that completely banning VPNs is “simply impossible.”
Faced with unbreakable technology and an increasingly isolated digital economy, Roskomnadzor’s plan to build its own VPN seems less like a solution and more like a Trojan horse, offering access with one hand while potentially tightening surveillance with the other. For Russia’s developers, it’s a “fix” that few are likely to trust.
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