- Russia’s State Duma proposes to create a list of approved VPNs
- The move comes as the Kremlin seeks to “reduce VPN usage”
- The Deputy also suggests targeted “smart” internet slowdowns
The Russian government is considering creating a list of approved VPN services, according to state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.
On Wednesday, the agency reported on a letter sent by State Duma Deputy Dmitry Gusev to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. In it, Gusev proposed the creation of a “white VPN” list to minimize inconvenience for citizens and businesses who rely on stable internet connections for work.
As authorities ramp up their efforts to ‘reduce VPN usage’ through new restrictions, reports of widespread bank outages and business disruptions have surfaced.
These are widely seen as a direct consequence of the current wave of aggressive blocks. By whitelisting specific services, the government hopes to exempt essential corporate tools from these technical disruptions.
Beyond VPNs, Gusev suggested a similar whitelist for Russian-based hosting providers to guarantee uninterrupted operations.
The Deputy also warned against restricting mobile internet access for users verified on Gosuslugi — the state’s digital services portal — effectively suggesting a whitelist of approved individuals after reports that the platforms blocked users who tried to access with a VPN enabled.
Gusev’s proposal advocates for a move away from blunt, mass restrictions in favor of “smart traffic slowdown” mechanisms. This system would allow authorities to selectively reduce bandwidth for unfriendly platforms while ensuring approved services continue to function at normal speeds.
A shift toward total whitelisting?
While these suggestions are not yet law, they signal an intent to transition toward a whitelisting censorship model.
The model — which blocks everything by default and only permits certain apps and websites — has reportedly been tested in major cities already, including Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The aggressive approach mirrors tactics recently implemented by Iranian authorities. Crucially, whitelisting makes bypassing state blocks significantly harder. That’s because under such a system, circumvention tools — including VPNs and proxies — will be restricted too.
However, speaking to TechRadar, a prominent Russian opposition figure — who in March launched a website tracking the connectivity levels of popular Russian VPNs — Maxim Katz argued that Russia may find it harder to replicate Iran’s success in this area.
“The Russian internet is much more sophisticated than the Iranian internet. It was developed for many years as a free internet. So, not only did everybody get used to it, but there are many ways to connect to different services. In comparison, Iranian authorities only have a couple of lines to cut for nothing to work,” Katz told Techradar.
Beyond the technical hurdles, Katz believes the Kremlin lacks the political capital to cut Russia off from the global web entirely. “Most Russians are not politicized. Whether they are pro-Putin or neutral, they still want to use the internet — and they are not ready to give it up.”
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chiara.castro@futurenet.com (Chiara Castro)
