Russia Will Reportedly Ban VPN Services From March 1, Kremlin Says No Decision

Illustration. (Unsplash/Petter Lagson)

JAKARTA - The Kremlin Authority said the government had not yet made a decision on the VPN (Virtual Private Network), when Russia was rumored to be banning the use of VPN services starting next month.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the government had not made any decisions regarding the country's total ban on VPN services.

"I can only say that at this time there has been no decision regarding this matter. This is what we need to continue," he said as reported by TASS on February 6.

Earlier, sources at the Federal Service for Communication Supervision, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) said VPN services would be banned from March 1.

"In accordance with the law, any tool that allows bypassing blocked or illegal content has been banned in Russia from February 2020. VPN services are included in the tool if access to illegal resources is not restricted when implemented," the source said.

Roskomnadzor previously developed criteria to block websites containing information on how to gain access to illicit resources in Russia.

Last September, the Ministry of Digital Development was known to propose the granting of authority to Roskomnadzor to block VPN services.

At the end of July 2023, President Vladimir Putin signed a law establishing that websites providing information on how to break through blocked resources in Russia must be included in the Integrated List of Prohibited Information belonging to the supervisory agency.

Citing The Moscow Times, VPN downloads, which help users access blocked websites, surged in Russia after authorities began blocking Western social media platforms and a number of independent news outlets, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.