Roskomnadzor (RKN) has expanded the list of information for the dissemination of which it will add sites to its register and block access to them. From December in Russia it will be prohibited to disseminate scientific and technical information, as well as statistics about VPN services in the context of their use to bypass blocking.
Image source: Roskomnadzor
An order of the RKN was published on the legal information portal, which makes changes to the criteria for assessing information and classifying it as prohibited in Russia for inclusion in the appropriate register of the department. According to the document, scientific, scientific, technical and statistical information about VPN services will be considered prohibited if it is related to bypassing blocking of Internet resources. An exception is made for information regarding the use of a VPN for secure remote access.
According to the explanatory note to the document, information about VPN services, describing how they are created and used to bypass blocking, is now subject to prohibition. The authors of the document refer to Law No. 149-FZ “On Information,” which prohibits the dissemination of information about methods of access to blocked resources.
The agency emphasizes that VPN technologies should be used exclusively to protect confidential information. Such services are used by government agencies, local governments and commercial enterprises, including banks and other financial organizations.
Let us recall that in July 2024, Vladimir Putin signed a law according to which information about ways to bypass blocking may cause the site to be included in the register of prohibited resources. At the same time, as MP Anton Gorelkin previously explained, the use of VPN services is not prohibited, only their advertising.
It was initially planned that the order would come into force on March 1, 2025, but the deadlines were revised and the new rules will come into force on November 30, 2024. The order will be in effect until September 1, 2029 and may be extended.
