Going online in #Russia can be frustrating, complicated and even dangerous
By DASHA LITVINOVA
Updated 7:34 AM EDT, August 5, 2025
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — "YouTube videos that won’t load. A visit to a popular independent media website that produces only a blank page. Cellphone internet connections that are down for hours or days.
"Going online in Russia can be frustrating, complicated and even dangerous.
"It’s not a network glitch but a deliberate, multipronged and long-term effort by authorities to bring the internet under the #Kremlin’s full control. Authorities adopted #RestrictiveLaws and banned #websites and #platforms that won’t comply. Technology has been perfected to monitor and manipulate online traffic.
"While it’s still possible to circumvent restrictions by using virtual private network apps, those are routinely blocked, too.
"Authorities further restricted internet access this summer with widespread shutdowns of cellphone internet connections and adopting a law punishing users for searching for content they deem illicit.
"They also are threatening to go after the popular WhatsApp platform while rolling out a new “national” messaging app that’s widely expected to be heavily monitored.
"President #VladimirPutin urged the government to 'stifle' foreign internet services and ordered officials to assemble a list of platforms from 'unfriendly' states that should be restricted."
#Censorship #Fascism #PutinSucks #Authoritarianism #SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #RussiaFirst
