Kirill Katkov has explained to DP what is covered by Roskomnadzor’s ban on popularisation of VPN services
On 1st of March the Roskomnadzor’s new order will come into force. According to the document popularisation of VPN services as well as posting of materials with instructions on how to bypass blocking can become grounds for the inclusion of Internet resources in the Unified Register of Banned Sites. In the agency`s opinion, the resources that “convince in the attractiveness” of VPN, explain how to download, install and use it will be blocked.
As Kirill Katkov, Associate at Maxima Legal, explained to Delovoy Peterburg newspaper, this is not about banning the advertising of technology in general, but about popularising specific VPNs that allow access to banned resources.
“As Roskomnadzor previously reported, it does not block VPNs that comply with Russian law. It is absolutely logical to proceed from the fact that the ban does not concern information about bona fide services,” the expert emphasised.
At the same time, as follows from the text of Roskomnadzor’s order, the following will be subject to blocking from 1 March 2024: information about VPN services and the principle of their operation; instructions for configuring VPN services; information about the benefits of VPN services; offers to purchase access to VPNs; application shops, thanks to which VPN services can be downloaded to users’ devices.
“In all of the above cases, we are talking about information about those VPN services that provide “access to information resources and (or) information and telecommunications networks, access to which is restricted in the territory of the Russian Federation”. In other words, those that do not restrict access to resources with illegal content. Thus, information about what a VPN is as a technology does not fall under the ban,” Kirill noted.
The expert said that it is impossible to draw a conclusion about a complete ban on VPNs. “An absolute ban, firstly, has no legal basis, and secondly, will cause damage to both commercial and state companies that use these technologies for legally authorised purposes,” he specified.
In addition, the blocking of all VPNs without exception will result in the loss of access to the websites of foreign IT companies, such as Intel and Microsoft, which are necessary for the work of domestic specialists.
Access to them is currently impossible without VPNs due to restrictive measures taken by the companies themselves.
“Whether sites will not be accidentally blocked due to the presence of keywords like “VPN”, “vpn”, “proxy”, “proxy” and the like, depends on how exactly Roskomnadzor technically organises the blocking process,” Kirill Katkov added.
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