Russia’s federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, has added the “VPN Traffic Light” project to its registry of banned websites. The decision was made on April 6, and blocking began on April 9, according to the website blockedin.org.
The service was launched on March 18 by blogger and politician Maxim Katz to track which VPN services were still working in Russia. Katz described it as a nonprofit effort in which “volunteers in Moscow with no special technical skills” test the services. He said the method was simple: “They just turn them on and see if they work.”
Russian authorities have stepped up their crackdown on VPN services in recent weeks. The Digital Development Ministry urged internet providers to charge customers extra for traffic generated through VPNs, and ordered major online platforms to block users with VPNs enabled by April 15.
The push against VPNs has intensified following the blocking of Telegram and WhatsApp, the two most widely used messaging apps in Russia.
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