Topic analysis

Kremlin forcing big firms to join ‘witch-hunt’ against internet rebels, claims report

An investigation by internet freedom advocacy group RKS Global alleges the Kremlin has conscripted major Russian companies—including banks Sberbank and T-Bank, tech platforms Yandex and VKontakte—to detect and collect data on users employing VPNs to access blocked global internet sites. As authorities escalate efforts to restrict Russian citizens’ access to the global internet, VPN-related activities are increasingly being treated as an aggravating factor in criminal prosecutions, while the government promotes a surveillance-capable 'superapp' called Max to push users onto a state-controlled digital ecosystem.