Obviously, this is not just a privacy issue at this point but also about being able to access sites and information that Russia is trying to shut down, but given Moscow police have also allegedly been seizing phones to read text messages, it would not be surprising for Russia to really start monitoring and arresting people for accessing prohibited sites.
Safety Detectives reports:
Demand for VPNs spiked to an all-time high in Russia after the government decided to block social media platforms and other websites on Friday, March 4th. Among the blocked platforms are Facebook and Twitter, in addition to several Russian-language news outlets.
This online censorship process actually began when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. In the Russian government’s attempt to control the information available to the country’s residents, the first steps taken were slowing down Facebook and Twitter and preventing certain images and videos from being viewed. Blocking these platforms completely, however, is a major escalation in the process.
Read more at SafetyDetectives.