Kremlin’s Expanding Grip on Russia’s Internet

Russian authorities have launched a coordinated, long-term campaign to bring the internet under state control. President Vladimir Putin ordered officials to compile a list of “unfriendly” platforms and to “stifle” foreign internet services. New legislation criminalizes searches for broadly defined “extremist” material, a category that now includes some LGBTQ+ content, opposition groups, certain songs, and the memoir of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. A law also mandates the pre-installation of the state-backed messenger MAX on all smartphones sold in Russia.

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The drive began after the 2011-12 protests, when independent media and online coordination challenged the Kremlin. Early measures forced providers to store call records and install equipment that could cut traffic. Companies such as Google and Facebook were pressured to keep user data on Russian servers, a demand that largely failed. Attempts to block Telegram between 2018-20 were unsuccessful, but the 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered broader bans on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Signal and other messaging apps.

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Since the invasion, authorities have repeatedly throttled YouTube and targeted VPN services. Cloudflare reported that websites using its infrastructure were deliberately slowed in Russia, and other Western hosting providers face similar inhibition. Human Rights Watch researcher Anastasiia Kruope says the state now uses sophisticated traffic-analysis tools to identify and choke off content. Cyber-lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan estimates that roughly half of Russian websites rely on foreign hosting, making them vulnerable to blockages. A July 30 Human Rights Watch report notes that seven large firms now control more than half of Russian IP addresses, with state telecom giant Rostelecom accounting for 25% of the total.

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Messaging app WhatsApp, which had over 97 million monthly users in April, is expected to leave the market, according to lawmaker Anton Gorelkin. MAX has attracted over 2 million registrations by July, according to Tass, but its terms require sharing user data with authorities. Access Now’s Anastasiya Zhyrmont observed disruptions to both Telegram and WhatsApp in July, suggesting tests of future blockages. Cyber-security expert Stanislav Seleznev cautions that tracking individual searches among Russia’s 146 million citizens remains difficult, though even limited prosecutions could deter users.

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While Kremlin officials present the measures as protecting national security, rights advocates warn they amount to “death by a thousand cuts,” gradually eroding a free and open internet. Darbinyan acknowledges that Russia is not yet fully isolated but argues the ongoing efforts are bringing the country closer to that outcome.

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