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Roskomnadzor proposed limiting the publication of information about the bypass of blocking. What it will change-the New European Warmare

Roskomnadzor proposed new criteria for evaluating materials that need to be blocked for information about the bypass of locks - they can include instructions for installing and downloading the VPN. If the document is signed, it will enter into force on March 1, 2024. The head of the Internet Protection Service Mikhail Klimarev believes that this proposal will not change the strategy of Roskomnadzor and will not leave users without access to independent sources of information. Read more - in the material of Novaya Gazeta Europe.

On September 19, Roskomnadzor posted for public discussion a draft order containing new criteria for the ban on the distribution of materials on the Internet with information on the bypass of blocking: it is published on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts.

According to the new document, Roskomnadzor can block the information:

• telling about methods of access to blocked materials;

• "Encouraging" to the bypass of locks;

• "Convincing of attractiveness" of any methods of bypassing locks;

• substantiating the advantages of any methods of bypassing locks;

• offering any methods for bypassing locks for sale;

• Allowing access to programs to circumvent the lock.

Until October 6, 2023, the draft order will be at the stage of public discussion. The organization "Roskomsvoboda", advocating for free self -regulation of the Internet, called for leaving comments on its page.

The initiative to give Roskomnadzor such powers came from the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation - the department proposed this in early September.

The last change in the rules of the unified register of the prohibited information of Roskomnadzor was in December 2022, when such grounds were made there for blocking sites as LGBT Propaganda, as well as “information that promotes pedophilia or floor change”.

Despite the introduction of a document with new blocking criteria, in reality Roskomnadzor is already blocking or slows down the work of sites where you can download VPN. So, for example, in Russia, some users do not open the Redshield VPN and Radmin VPN website, although they are not in the RKN register.

According to the head of the Society for the Protection of the Internet, Mikhail Klimarev, in reality, the regulator can block “anything and whatever”, just often this does not happen publicly. This applies not only to locks, but also to slowdown: for example, in 2021, RKN slowed down the work of the social network X (Twitter) in Russia.

“No one will say anything to, because in the laws these norms are already so vaguely recorded that they (RKN. - Approx. Ed.) They can arbitrarily block any resource,” explains Klimarev.

He believes that the regulator has two reasons for entering new criteria. Firstly, the RKN is one way or another an official bureaucratic procedure is needed. Secondly, the Russian authorities want to draw attention to the VPN problem. So, State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein said that some methods of bypassing the locks are "simply unsafe for users themselves."

“Doubtful services collect personal data, the history of activity, and so on. If all this array of data is sold to advertisers to personalize ads, this is a very “sparing” option. Even worse, when this information falls into the hands of various kinds of scammers, ”the deputy wrote in his telegram channel.

Klimarev is sure that the introduction of new blocking criteria is not the last stage of the Kremlin’s wide campaign to combat VPN. He believes that sooner or later such services can be declared “outlawed” or “undesirable”.

Nevertheless, it is too early to talk about the complete refusal of Russia from the VPN, the head of the Internet protection society believes. There are many other ways to bypass blocking on the Internet: instructions in YouTube, newsletters of VPN clients in telegram channels or send through the mail PDF documents and programs. You can also use a Tor browser and a change of DNS servers.

According to Klimarev, you can even use WhatsApp to transmit VPN instructions and customers-so far it is a relatively free space, despite the fact that recently the RKN threatened to block it due to the appearance of public channels.

“Thus, you can block at least the entire Internet. But how will they (the authorities of Russia - approx. Ed.) Trade to trade in oil, purchase drones and equipment? Where will they order it and how? It’s like in chess: any new move of Roskomnadzor will only lead to a deterioration in position, ”he explained.