In November 2019, Russia’s so-called “Internet sovereignty law” took effect, requiring all local telecom operators to install special equipment designed to “withstand foreign threats” and block anything added by Roskomnadzor (the federal censor) to the government’s registry of banned online content.
The new regulations are still unenforceable in practice, but officials are already testing the needed hardware on real Internet users in the Urals. Under this law, Roskomnadzor also created a monitoring center to manage the new network infrastructure. This office will collect analytics about network operations and oversee the blocking of banned websites, taking central control of the Russian Internet in the event of threats to its security.
Meduza correspondent Maria Kolomychenko learned that a Federal Protective Service veteran and the descendant of one of Russia’s most celebrated families of missile engineers — a man named Sergey Khutortsev — has been appointed to serve as the director of the powerful new monitoring center.
How a highly connected military figure became Russia’s point man for disconnecting the InternetRead More
