Free Internet, meeting in Moscow and blocking exchangers

The situation around the issue of censorship of the Runet continues to heat up - the public goes to the rally, and Roskomnadzor rages and blocks domestic exchangers. As you can see, the scandalous bill has not yet begun to be implemented, but the Russian Internet today is subject to strict regulation. So what to expect next?

Rally for free internet

As expected, the bill about the total control of the Internet space has caused a storm of indignation among the masses. And if initially only the “inhabitants” of the Internet discussed it in numerous forums, then March 10 outrage wave went beyond the global network and swept through Moscow in the form of an agreed rally “For Free Internet”. Its participants protested against the Klishas-Bokova law on the sovereign Internet, which in fact implies its strict censorship.

According to various sources, at the rally that took place along Sakharov Avenue, there were thousands of people from 6,5 to 15,3. And even though the action was peaceful and coordinated with the local authorities, the Interior Ministry officers detained 15 people, who handed out balloons, and also took away banners and posters they didn’t like. In general, the rally was not numerous, despite the fact that Telegram's creator Pavel Durov supported and actively promoted it.  

The past action did not go unnoticed by the Kremlin, in particular, Dmitry Peskov commented on this situation. According to him, the bill is not at all about censorship, but is aimed at protecting the domestic Internet space, which must be protected from "overseas ill-wishers."  

Locking Bestchange.ru and exchange services

Meanwhile, Roskomnadzor does not sleep and continues its ban policy. This time, the exchange services, which are no longer available on the territory of Russia, came under the attention of the supervisory authority. As it turned out, in July 2018, the court decided to block the monitoring of exchangers. Bestchange.ru and a number of exchangers. After 8 months after the court decision, the sentence was enforced and the websites of the banned services became unavailable.

The reason for blocking sites on the territory of the Russian Federation was the provision of information about Bitcoin. The court explained its decision by the fact that, according to the law of Russia, the issue and use of money substitutes are prohibited, and all cryptocurrencies, including the cue-ball, are considered as such. Allegedly, the procurator of Omsk conducted an inspection and found four sites offering services for using Bitcoin. It is strange that only four such sites were discovered - apparently, the check by the prosecutor’s office was carried out purposefully to specific resources.

A logical question arises, why are only three exchangers blocked and monitored Bestchange, if the "forbidden" information about bitcoin contains every second site on the Internet? The logic of such decisions does not lend itself to common sense. Most likely, it was the exchange services that hampered Roscomnadzor, so it was not necessary to think up a reason for blocking for a long time. Fortunately, as we know on the example of Telegram, not everything that is blocked by Roskomnadzor becomes unavailable.

Worry about the fact that the services of blocked services can no longer be used, it is not necessary:

• Firstly, these sites are blocked only in Russia, which means that you can easily visit them under VPN.
• Second, the y Bestchange is a mirror site https://www.bestchange.net, which is working successfully.

Whether the blocking of exchangers and other sites related to cryptocurrency will be selective or whether mass bans should be expected from Roskomnadzor is still unknown.

The censorship of the Russian Internet is gaining momentum and, despite obvious public disapproval, officials do not leave the idea to strictly regulate the once free space. Fortunately, while the technical capabilities allow to overcome blockages, but every day the situation is becoming increasingly tense. One can only hope that the incompetent Klīšas-Bokovoy bill will indeed be impossible to implement.