Source: New York Times
“Russia is escalating its efforts to curtail online freedom, taking new steps toward a draconian state-controlled internet. The authorities are cracking down on workarounds that Russians have been using for access to foreign apps and banned content, including through new laws signed by President Vladimir V. Putin this week. … the Kremlin is building out a domestic ecosystem of easily monitored and censored Russian alternatives to Western tech products. That includes a new state-sanctioned messaging service, MAX, which will come preinstalled by law on all new smartphones sold in Russia starting in September. The idea, experts say, is to migrate more Russians from an open internet dominated by the products of Western tech giants to a censored online ecosystem, where Russians primarily use software under the gaze and influence of the state.” (08/03/25)