Roskomnadzor Asked to Block 51 VPN Services

Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the Federation Council, Senator Artem Sheikin, has sent an appeal to the head of Roskomnadzor, Andrey Lipov, requesting an investigation and blocking of 51 VPN services that provide access to resources banned in Russia. Specifically, this concerns Facebook and Instagram (owned by Meta, whose activities are recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

“I believe that these services, operating within the Russian Federation, continue to provide access to prohibited resources, which is a violation of Russian law. Based on the above, I ask you to check whether these VPN services comply with Russian legislation and, if violations are found, to consider restricting access to these VPN services in accordance with the federal law ‘On Amendments to the Federal Law on Information, Information Technologies, and Information Protection’ dated July 29, 2017 No. 276-FZ,” the senator’s appeal states.

In total, the list includes more than 50 VPN services that “continue to provide access to prohibited resources, which is a violation of Russian law.”

Roskomnadzor representatives told the media that they have already received the senator’s appeal and will review it as required. The agency reminded that, according to the law, tools for bypassing blocks on illegal content are considered a threat to citizens’ security. “When using them, access to prohibited information remains, and conditions are created for illegal activities, including the distribution of drugs, child pornography, extremism, and incitement to suicide,” the statement said.

Roskomnadzor conducts ongoing analysis, updating the list of VPNs operating in Russia, and restricts the operation of services that violate Russian law. Since 2021, the agency has blocked 167 VPN services and 84 applications.