- Areas of Russia are experiencing mobile internet blackouts
- These are said to be necessary to combat Ukrainian drone attacks
- Many believe the blackouts may be a crack down on digital rights
Amidst the Russian invasion of Ukraine, technology has been a crucial point of leverage for both sides, with technological infrastructure like telecoms and mobile internet services targeted in disruptive offensives aimed at weakening the other side – even leading to Russia shutting down its own internet services in the name of national security.
A new report by non-profit Russian Internet Protection Society has outlined a record breaking 2,000 mobile internet service shutdowns in July, pointing to a dramatic increase in digital restrictions – and rights groups say that many of the blackouts don’t appear to be related to any threat.
Russian authorities have blocked the advertising of VPNs and Cloudflare subnets in a large-scale crackdown on digital rights. Platforms like Twitch, TikTok, YouTube, and even Duolingo are all inaccessible without a VPN.
Drone attacks blamed
These blackouts have a serious impact on life in parts of Russia and cut off access to things like maps, banking applications, buying fuel, or even communicating with loved ones – with talks of blocking WhatsApp suggesting the state pushing citizens onto highly monitored, government controlled messaging services.
Russia has cited a need to prevent and defend against Ukrainian drone attacks, but not everyone is convinced by this explanation. The economic losses from these disruptions are estimated by watchdogs to be around 26 billion rubles ($290 million) in July alone – and rural areas are left isolated.
Dmitry Gudkov, a former MP and co-founder of the Center for Analysis and Strategy in Europe told Le Monde that authorities are ‘gradually restricting freedoms’ through these outages;
“They are acclimating society to life without the internet. The day they need to cut the mobile network, for instance to stifle protests, they’ll know they can do it.”
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