In Russia, they are discussing a mechanism by which services that do not restrict access when circumvention tools are enabled may be excluded from "whitelists." According to Kommersant, the Ministry of Digital Development is in dialogue on this issue with the largest Russian digital platforms.
Kommersant refers to a high-ranking source in the Ministry of Digital Development and a source in the IT market. According to the publication, the measures are aimed at reducing the use of VPN without introducing direct responsibility. The restrictions may affect the Wildberries and Ozon marketplaces, the services of Yandex and VK companies, as well as other resources.
A "whitelist" is a list of websites and IP addresses that continue to work even when mobile internet is disabled. The list is formed taking into account the popularity of Internet resources in Russia and proposals from federal and regional authorities.
Currently, this list includes government resources, including the portals of ministries and departments, banking applications and payment system websites, services for transport and travel, personal accounts of telecom operators, marketplaces, shops and delivery services, as well as media, social networks, messengers, entertainment platforms and resources for business.
On March 30, the media reported that the Ministry of Digital Development is discussing additional measures with telecom operators. In particular, according to Forbes, the possibility of introducing a fee for using more than 15 GB of international traffic per month in mobile networks is being considered.
At the same time, a complete ban on VPN in Russia is not being discussed. This was previously stated in an interview with TASS by Anton Gorelkin, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy.