How Russia reins in the internet by blocking websites and isolating it from the rest of the world
TALLINN, Estonia – YouTube videos that won’t load. A visit to a popular independent media website that produces only a blank page. Cellphone internet connections that are down for hours or days.
Going online in Russia can be frustrating, complicated and even dangerous.
It’s not a network glitch but a deliberate, multipronged and long-term effort by authorities to bring the internet under the Kremlin’s full control. Authorities adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that won’t comply. Technology has been perfected to monitor and manipulate online traffic.
