Russian online application stores began removing VPN services from the assortment

Russian online application stores have begun removing VPN services from their download range. The first was the Android application store NashStore.

Dozens of VPN services appear and are blocked in Russia every month, bypassing the blocking of sites and applications in the country. Using a VPN service, therefore, violates Russian law, but such applications can still be found relatively freely in online stores.

Image source generated by the Fusion Brain AI neural network.

Artem Sheikin, Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the Federation Council, Senator, appealed to the owner and operator of the NashStore application market and to Roskomnadzor so that the store would reduce its range of applications.

After my request to Roskomnadzor and Tsifroviye Platformy LLC, NashStore excluded all VPN services that provided access to prohibited information from the number of applications available for download. By removing VPN applications that allow you to bypass blocking, the application store has shown a responsible approach to complying with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Deputy Chairman of the Council for the Development of the Digital Economy under the Federation Council, Senator Artem Sheikin

Sheikin stressed that "it is necessary to continue to work consistently to restrict access to prohibited content". He called on other application stores to follow the example of NashStore.

Earlier, the Center for Monitoring and Management of the Public Communication Network (TsMU SSOP) shared the successes of the automated Internet security system (ASBI). Over the year, it helped block or restrict the operation of 167 VPN services in Russia.