Internet

Russian lawmakers adopt final version of new ‘Internet isolation’ law

April 17, 2019

Yesterday the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, adopted in second reading a legislation designed to “ensure the safe and sustainable functioning” of the Internet in Russia. Lawmakers say the law will defend the country against foreign aggression, serving as insurance, in case Russia’s global Internet access is shut off from abroad. Supporters of …

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Russian authorities demand that VPN services comply with censorship policies

April 1, 2019

Roskomnadzor, the agency responsible for communications regulation and censorship in Russia, announced today that it contacted a number of VPN services to request that they subscribe to the agency’s registry of websites that are banned from distribution on Russian territory. Though Roskomnadzor has blocked VPN services before and asked Internet service providers to comply with its registry of blocked …

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Why lawmakers consider ‘isolating’ Russian Internet

March 25, 2019

Next month, the State Duma will likely vote on a second reading of legislation drafted by lawmakers Lyudmila Bokova, Andrey Klishas and Andrey Lugovoy that would guard against and simultaneously facilitate the isolation of the Russian Internet. In mid-February, the bill’s first reading passed with support from 334 of the Duma’s 450 deputies; 69 lawmakers didn’t vote at …

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Google fixes “technical mistake” in maps that presented Crimea to Russian users as Ukrainian territory

March 6, 2019

Five year after Russia took control of the peninsula, the sovereignty dispute between Russia and Ukraine over Crimea is still sensitive for online service providers.  Thus, in an effort to comply with local laws regarding the depiction of international borders, Google has just “corrected an error that caused a small number of Russian iOS users” to …

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Mail.Ru Group’s new browser “focuses on user security and privacy”

November 12, 2020

Half a year after it stopped supporting its first, not-so-successful browser Amigo, Mail.ru Group announced earlier this month the launch of a new browser christened ‘Atom.’ While Amigo had been perceived as excessively intrusive due to the way it had been promoted by Mail.Ru’s partners, Atom “focuses on user security and privacy,” claims the LSE-listed …

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Forbes ranking features four Russian Internet unicorns

February 27, 2019

Last week the Russian edition of Forbes released its annual ranking of the 20 “most valuable companies of the Russian Internet.” Unsurprisingly, NASDAQ-listed Yandex and LSE-listed Mail.Ru Group lead the ranking, with capitalizations of $10.7 billion and $5.6 billion, respectively. Forbes has identified two other unicorns: Avito, the classifieds giant over which Naspers just took …

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10 key numbers on Internet usage in Russia

February 21, 2019

Every year, the social media management platform Hootsuite and the We Are Social agency compiles a Global Digital Yearbook that covers developments in internet, social media, mobile and e-commerce usage throughout the world. We combed through this ever-growing report to distill the 10 key takeaways regarding the current state of Internet usage in Russia: Internet penetration stands at …

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Russian parliament discusses Internet isolation plan amid budget uncertainty

February 8, 2019

The Russian parliament is discussing draft amendments to the existing legislation to ensure a “secure and stable functioning” of the Internet network. Should these amendments be adopted, the country would use its own domain name system and Internet traffic routing, where only Russian websites would work. The telecom and Internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, would be responsible for centralizing …

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Google agrees with Russian authorities to filter censored content

February 11, 2019

Google has “established a constructive dialogue” with Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, to delete from search results websites that are banned in Russia, the Russian media reported, citing the Roskomnadzor press office. While refusing to connect to Federal State Information System (FGIS), Roskomnadzor’s registry of banned sites, the US company began deleting blacklisted links …

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Russian lawmakers to outlaw ‘fake news’ and insulting the government

January 29, 2019

Yesterday the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, voted to approve the first reading of two bills that place certain limits on freedom of speech in Russia. One essentially prohibits citizens from publishing unreliable news stories on the Internet while applying the same prohibition to news outlets both online and in other media. …

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With 90 million users, Russia is Europe’s largest Internet market

January 16, 2019

Last year Russia confirmed its rank as Europe’s largest Internet market with 90 million users aged 16 and older. Thus, according to a GfK study, Internet penetration exceeds 75% in the country. The growth (up 3 million users from 2017 to 2018) is mainly due to the older generation, where penetration is still low with …

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How Russia could build its own, autonomous Internet

December 21, 2018

On December 14 Russian lawmakers Lyudmila Bokova, Andrey Klishas and Andrey Lugovoy submitted to the State Duma draft amendments to the existing legislation to ensure a “secure and stable functioning” of the Internet network. Should these amendments be adopted, the country would use its own domain name system and Internet traffic routing, where only Russian websites would work. …

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