A video of a hitherto little-known Russian YouTuber has gone viral in Russia calls on fellow IT professionals to oppose government order to block Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). Large Russian websites gradually since the end of March restrict access through censorship circumvention tools, writes TASR with reference to the article of The Moscow Times.
- A lesser-known Russian YouTuber calls on IT workers to resist VPN blocking.
- Since March, Russian websites have been gradually restricting access through censorship bypassing tools.
- The Ministry has threatened technology companies with the loss of financial support if VPNs are not blocked.
- Dmitri equates self-imposed restrictions to death squad tactics.
- Most Russian websites block VPN access after months of internet outages.
Youtuber Dmitrij on his channel Gorčičnaya futbolka (Mustard T-shirt) urges colleagues in the technology sector, to “not build an iron curtain with their own hands”. The video has received 450,000 views and more than 40,000 likes on YouTube since it was posted on April 7.
According to him, the company where Dmitry works has received instructions from the Ministry of Digital Development to block the use of VPNs within a week. Otherwise, he is said to lose the financial support of government authorities. The deadline coincides with earlier reports that the ministry ordered more than 20 major online platforms in Russia to limit VPN use by mid-April.
“The requirements are confusing and no one knows how to actually implement them,” says Dmitry in the challenge. “But I just have a strong feeling that I can’t identify with this situation,” he added.
“When they start asking us to set our own limits, it’s starting to look like some sort of death squad tactic. It’s complete nonsense. We don’t even do this to ‘others’ anymore, but to ourselves,” he adds. “I won’t do this,” says Dmitry. “I urge anyone who has anything to do with IT: don’t fall for this nonsense,” he emphasized.
On Wednesday, most Russian websites and online services began blocking users who tried to access it through VPNs. reported The Moscow Times. The restrictions follow months of mobile internet outages in Russia and a government-ordered slowdown of messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram.
VPN usage in Russia skyrocketed after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, when authorities began blocking Western social media platforms and Russian independent news media.
