Law to introduce sovereign internet enters into force in Russia
In Russia, the law to establish an independent Russian internet, called Runet, went into effect on Friday. This should protect the operation of the Russian internet against threatening outside influences.
The introduction of the law requires telecom providers in Russia to install special network equipment supplied by Roskomnadzor, the country’s telecom authority. This allows the Russian government to monitor and adjust the content and route of the data traffic, check whether access to illegal content is blocked, filter traffic and unblock access to prohibited sites.
Furthermore, the law states that annual exercises are held in which the Runet is cut off from the rest of the worldwide internet. Owners of communication networks, internet companies and other relevant parties must cooperate, the Russian RBC says. According to the site, the deep packet inspection equipment has been installed at some telecom companies for testing purposes.
Those tests would be completed before the end of the year, after which the impact for end users would be assessed and whether the blocking succeeded as intended. This will be followed by a rollout to more regions. On January 21, 2021, Russia must have a national domain name system, with a duplicate of the list of Russian domain names and autonomous systems.
The plans have been criticized by, among others, Human Rights Watch. This points to the Kremlin’s increasing grip on the internet and the risks of further state surveillance. The arrival of Runet is also a point of discussion in Russia itself. The state-affiliated RIA Novosti cites experts who say that Russia is following a trend of islandization of the internet, which other states are also doing. A government official says it is inevitable that the state will gain more influence over the internet now that the internet is intertwined with the lives of households and regulates, for example, light and energy.
The more critical Novaya Gazeta believes that this further isolates Russia and that in addition to ideological ideas based on hypothetical threats, the pursuit of profit also underlies the plans for Runet. “It is clear that the Russian internet in its former form will cease to exist. From an area of relative freedom it will eventually become a battlefield between state interests and common sense,” the newspaper writes.