Last week Russian lawmakers in the State Duma unanimously adopted the first reading of legislation that would ban technologies that make it possible to circumvent Internet censorship. In the law’s explanatory note, the Duma deputies argue that Russia’s existing system to block illegal content on the Web is “not effective enough.” 363 deputies voted in …
Russia’s telecom regulator Roskomnadzor blocked internet giant Google for several hours on Thursday in a bid to enforce a tax ruling made in 2016. Google.ru appeared on Russia’s register of banned sites for approximately three hours on Thursday afternoon, with a number of internet providers restricting users’ access. The site was blocked as part of …
Young people in Russia don’t watch television anymore. Television isn’t where the action is. Whereas generations of Russians before them devoted countless hours to the TV set, depending on their programs for entertainment, culture, and news, the home base for Generation Z — those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s — is the …
Russia’s Generation Z and the digital media effect Read More
Kapinvest 21, a VC company in Tyumen, in Russia’s Southeast Urals, has partnered with a group of unnamed Chinese investors, Asia LP, to launch FinShi Capital, a venture fund based on cryptocurrencies. The fund will target blockchain and fintech projects in Russia and beyond. The fund began selling pre-ICO (Initial Coin Offering) tokens today, June 15, with …
Siberian venture firm teams up with Chinese investors to launch cryptocurrency-based fund Read More
Pop star Britney Spears’ Instagram account was used by Russian hackers as a secret bulletin board to place coded messages that were part of a malware scheme, a security company reported. Slovakian antivirus company ESET said in a blog post that it had found encoded messages in the comments section of Spears’ account that, when scanned by …
A group of Russian lawmakers has submitted draft legislation to ban VPN and Internet anonymizers that allow users to gain access to blocked information resources, making it possible to circumvent Internet censorship. According to these Duma deputies, the country’s ability to police the Internet is hindered by such technologies as well as by search engines which provide …
Russian lawmakers consider banning VPNs and Internet anonymizers Read More
Confirming that the relations between Ukraine and Russia are currently at their lowest, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko yesterday signed a decree applying sanctions to 468 legal entities and 1,228 individuals from Russia. Among the targeted organizations are the two leading Russian Internet groups — Yandex and Mail.Ru Group — the services of which will be made …
Issued Thursday, a 27-page Presidential executive order titled “Development Strategies for Russian Information Society from 2017 to 2030” is instructing the federal government to devise new mechanisms to rein in online media and limit Internet users’ anonymity. The Russian president is giving the government six months to reform its strategy for policing “means of providing …
Executive order may put Internet media and online anonymity under new pressure Read More
Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, is putting pressure on online anonymizers and VPN services to restrict Russians’ access to blacklisted sites. The agency’s spokesman Vadim Ampelonsky stated that some anonymizers and VPNs were already cooperating with the government, while others which did not comply with regional laws were illegal in Russia and would be banned. But the Russin …
Russia’s largest IT and telecom companies are considering the creation of a new self-regulatory organization to oversee the Big Data sector, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported Monday. Among these players are the national telecom operator Rostelecom, mobile operators MegaFon, MTS and Vimpelcom, and domestic Internet leaders Mail.Ru Group and Yandex. Mail.ru Group believes that that the …
Russian industry players look to self-regulate Big Data Read More
On Sunday, as Russia was witnessing mass anti-corruption protests, Yandex’s local news feed for Moscow prominently featured trivialities such as weather reports and promotions for the city’s “Spring Festival.” On the national level, protests were overshadowed by news like Russia’s reaction to Kiev banning its Eurovision contestant, reports The Moscow Times. It’s no secret that …
Yandex’s news service almost blind to mass anti-corruption protests Read More
The Russian authorities are considering a new initiative to force foreign companies to carry out decisions made by Russian courts and state institutions. Non-compliance would be punished with slower Internet access to their sites — in the same way that some mobile phone plans slow Internet access after users exceed a predetermined limit. The law …
Russia considers slowing Internet speed for foreign sites breaking Russian law Read More
