Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the provision of basic internet services for the population, local media reported on Monday, thus anticipating the possibility of new massive network interruptions at the behest of the Federal Security Service (FSB), EFE and Agerpres news agencies write.
The Russian authorities will have to ensure the “uninterrupted operation of essential services, including healthcare systems, the federal state information system, payment systems and citizens' access to these services during the restriction of the information and telecommunications network on the Internet,” the statement published by the Kremlin states.
The measures must be prepared by July 1 this year, with the responsibility falling on Prime Minister Mihail Mishustin and the director of the FSB, Aleksandr Bortnikov.
Vladimir Putin's order institutionalizes internet blackouts in the country
The instructions were drawn up following a meeting with members of the Russian government, which took place on April 23.
The spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, said on Monday in this regard that the authorities' objective is “to ensure that truly essential electronic services appear on the “white lists” and that their operation is guaranteed.”
Registration on the so-called “whitelists” is strictly regulated by the authorities and includes a number of Russian websites and applications.
According to Carnegie Center researcher Aleksandra Prokopenko, Putin's order institutionalizes internet blackouts in the country, making them “a normal operating condition, not an exception.”
In addition, the FSB is “in a stronger position, while giving the government a formal tool to reverse the measure when internet outages cause excessive collateral damage”.
“Digital Gulag”
Internet blackouts in Russia began last year, citing security reasons. However, they arrived in Moscow in March, when access to the mobile Internet network was blocked for about three weeks.
Later, the authorities blocked Internet access again at the beginning of May, but restored it a few hours after mobile phone operators announced restrictions for a period of five days.
In both periods, the so-called “white lists” did not work, and citizens complained not only about the difficulty of everyday life, but also about the impact on business in the Russian capital.
Internet blackouts are carried out by the FSB at the request of the head of state, in accordance with a law promulgated at the beginning of the year.
The security forces claim that this is to defend against the Ukrainian secret services, which are recruiting saboteurs in Russia and whose forces are still increasing their drone attacks against Russia.
Instead, some experts have included these measures in the so-called “digital gulag” that Moscow is creating, with the intention of building its own information space, isolated from the global Internet, in accordance with its policies of propaganda and censorship.
