Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Social Media Bans Lead To 2,088 Percent Spike Of VPN In Russia

Roskomnadzor, the State communications regulator said on Monday the number of cyberattacks against the IT systems and infrastructure of the Russian government had sharply increased since February 24.

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New Delhi: Russian social media users and content creators quickly ran to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that encrypt data and obscure where a user is located. The services saw a 2,088 percent higher demand than the daily average mid-February, data from monitoring firm Top10VPN showed according to a Reuters report. 

While Russia started to ban VPNs last year, but couldn't ban them entirely because campaign critics said it would stifle internet freedom. Ahead of the ban several content creators either direct their followers to their Telegram channel or YouTube. 

The demand for internet tools especially increased when Meta's flagship Facebook & Instagram restrictions began. Russia has been steadily restricting access to online platforms in an effort to control the flow of information about the war and has already banned Facebook and Twitter, the Verge reported. Some Russians used the platforms to share their opinions about the ongoing conflict, some who didn't agree with their president were at the protests and shared their opinions. 

Quoting Top10VPN's data analysis Reuters reported that more than 6,000 entries to Russia's central registry of blocked websites found that 203 news sites and 97 foreign exchange and crypto sites are currently blocked in Russia.

Roskomnadzor, the State communications regulator said on Monday the number of cyberattacks against the IT systems and infrastructure of the Russian government had sharply increased since February 24 while warning the perpetrators that there will be criminal consequences.

Aside from these social media TikTok all non-Russian content in Russia but is allowing historical content uploaded by domestic accounts to stay online, including videos by state-backed media services, reported The Guardian. It had banned live streaming and uploading of new content in Russia after the Kremlin criminalised the spreading of what it deems to be fake news about its invasion of Ukraine.

While this may be a way to control information & fake news, this has also gravely affected social media influencers who use the platform to earn a living and invested time to build their platform or have a team behind whom they can no longer pay.