Digital Isolation: russia Considers Blocking Calls From Abroad
At a meeting of the human rights council, russian dictator vladimir putin announced plans to block phone calls from so-called unfriendly countries.
▫️This initiative is being justified as necessary to provide “digital protection for citizens” from phone and online scammers — a topic that russian media have recently been artificially amplifying.
However, the real reason behind such measures is the informational isolation of russian citizens, which the kremlin has been systematically and gradually implementing since the start of the full-scale invasion. In just the past few days, under the pretext of “security threats,” russia has blocked WhatsApp, FaceTime, Snapchat, and even the popular children’s gaming platform Roblox. At the same time, russia is restricting access to tools that bypass internet blocks and is widely shutting down mobile internet.
The kremlin’s ultimate goal is the creation of a “sovereign internet” with full state control over all sources of information and communication tools.
