Russian Government Accused Of Using All Means To Block Navalny Site

Alexei Navalny, anti-United Russia Party critic. (photo: instagram).

JAKARTA - Russia is using new digital hardware to target an online app that has imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. This figure is said to be trying to weaken the Kremlin in parliamentary elections next month.

Navalny and his allies want to use their app and website to organize a tactical voting campaign on the September 17-19 poll to deal a blow to the ruling United Russia party that dominates the country's political landscape.

The "smart voting" campaign requires followers to register and to be allocated to the candidate judged to have the best chance of defeating the party in their constituency.

It is one of the few levers Navalny has left after a crackdown on his movement as an extremist this summer. Now some of its websites have been blocked.

Communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has told Google and Apple to remove the app from their stores. So far no one has done so and the app is trending in the Russian online segment.

Late Monday, Navalny's allies accused Russian authorities of moving to block him. Those efforts they said had intensified since Friday and meant the app was not loading content for some users.

"We've fixed a few things and now the accessibility of the app is around 70%", said his ally on the Telegram messenger.

GlobalCheck, a group that monitors the accessibility of websites in Russia and the region using sensors, said Russia was interfering with applications with tools that use a technology called Deep Packet Inspection, which can analyze internet traffic, identify the data flows of certain services, and block them.

Russia's communications watchdog ordered all internet providers, including mobile operators, to install the equipment in 2019 after Russia passed a law known as the "sovereign internet" law.

The law is one of a series of moves by authorities to tighten internet controls that have stoked fears among internet freedom advocates that Russia is implementing a vision of tighter Chinese-style internet controls.