The Russian Ministry of Digital Development is developing unified rules for including websites and services in the "whitelist" — a list of resources that remain accessible when mobile internet is restricted. The development of new rules is associated with complaints from business representatives about the current procedure and remarks from the FSB regarding its technical implementation.
Currently, there is no unified public procedure for including resources in the list. In addition, telecom operators could form their own lists and add partners or services from their ecosystems. As a result, the set of websites accessible under mobile internet restrictions could differ depending on the operator.
Problems also arose because a permitted address does not always mean that all related infrastructure is used only for the permitted service. According to CNews, the FSB had complaints due to the placement of VPN services and prohibited content on the IT infrastructure of some resources from the "whitelist".
The "whitelist" itself appeared as a way to maintain access to the most important websites and services at times when mobile internet is temporarily restricted for security reasons. It includes government resources, banks, transport and socially significant services, marketplaces, and other popular platforms. The list is regularly updated.
Now the Ministry of Digital Development wants to make the procedure unified. Market participants expect clear requirements from the agency — what exactly the service must fulfill, what documents will need to be submitted, and how long it will take to consider an application for "whitelisting" a website.