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An Internet Clampdown Is Coming to Russia
Taking a page from Beijing, a new law set to go into effect soon will give Moscow more control over the Russian internet
Last May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed what was called the “Stable RuNet law.” The bill sought to reroute Russian web traffic and data through state-controlled points with an aim toward constructing a national domain name system (DNS) that would allow the Russian internet to function even if the country is cut off from foreign cyberinfrastructure. The law required the country’s internet service providers (ISPs) to exclusively go through exchange points located inside the Russian Federation and be approved by Roskomnadzor, the state-controlled telecommunications regulator.
Two of Russia’s leading tech brands — Yandex, the country’s answer to Google, and Mail.Ru, which owns two of the most widely used Russian social media sites — supported the law following the Russian authorities’ promise to purchase new equipment required by the legislation. Even though there has been significant debate on whether this promise and the pursued scenario in general could work in practice, Alexander Zharov, the director of Roskomnadzor, recently confirmed that the equipment installation on the networks of major telecom operators is now underway. According to Zharov, the communications watchdog has begun the “combat testing” process, and the revamped segment of the Russian internet, or RuNet, is scheduled to officially launch at the beginning of November.
By further tightening state control and censorship of the RuNet, Russian authorities are visibly channeling inspiration from their colleagues in China, where the government maintains a tight grip on the internet. But can the Kremlin fully embrace the Chinese model? The answer is yes — but only to a point and only in the immediate future.
First, the methods used by both countries vary, and China, at least up until now, has been much more effective than Russia in controlling its digital space. Second, economically and financially, particularly in terms of technological innovations, Russia is currently lagging behind China.
Ever since the collapse of the USSR, the main mission of the…
