[u8080]

Just a recap how it happened in Russia:

1. First, year ~2015 legal framework was created under disguise of banning pirated media(specifically torrents.ru)(legislative push). State-wide DNS ban introduced. Very easy to circumvent via quering 8.8.8.8

2. Then, having legal basis, govt included extra stuff in banned list(casinos, terrorist orgs, etc)(executive push). IP bans introduced, applied very carefully.

3. Legal expanded allowing govt to ban specific media on very vague criterias(legislative push). IP blocks tried on some large websites. DPI hardware mandated to be installed by ISPs to filter by HTTPS SNI(executive push).

4. At ~2019 Roskomnadzor(RKN) created, special govt entity which enforces bans without court orders(legislative push).

5. ~2021 sites become banned if they are not filtering content by Russian laws by request of RKN(executive push). VPN services were obligated to also DPI-filter traffic(legislative push).

6. ~2023 Crackdown on VPN started(executive push). Popular commercial services were IP-banned, OpenVPN and IPSec connections selectively degraded by DPI.

7. ~2025 Heavy VPN filtering(vless, wireguard, etc) introduced(executive push). Performance of certain sites were degraded(youtube, twitter, etc).

[dvtkrlbs]

Similar stuff is happening in Turkey as well. Afaik with ipv6 adoption goverment mandates DPI hardware at ISPs. It was voluntary for ipv4 traffic.

[Saline9515]

France is already at 5! The free world marches on.

[spixy]

DPI = Deep packet inspection?

[delamon]

yes

[comonoid]

8. 2026 White-list mode is occasionally enforced.

[villgax]

dont give them ideas man, with LLMs & image/video creation models, I'm this close to not caring about pubic internet now for non-work/news/payments

[u8080]

This is not idea, this is reality in 2026 (Tbf only for cellular internet)

[comonoid]

True.

[d1sxeyes]

I remember writing about Roskomnadzor well before 2019, it’s existed at least since 2013, and don’t think it was particularly new then.

[u8080]

I could miss some things from memory, but RKN originally had much less power back in the days, they were just trying to execute court orders - it started actually being self-sufficient censorship agency in ~2019

[d1sxeyes]

Looks like you're talking about the new powers they got in 2018 https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE...

But proper curial oversight stopped with the Lugovoi law in 2013, after which RKN could block directly based on orders from the General Prosecutor's office.

[googlehater]

i noticed your profile has a lot of great info onthis. where did you learn?

[darqis]

and yet my friend in Moscow is able to use VPN to get around all this

[jllyhill]

This is very up to chance. Sometimes the VPN works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it's fine on the home Internet, but fails on the cell data, sometimes it's otherwise. And it is fine if you're somewhat tech savvy and okay with tinkering with settings, but a huge pain for the older relatives.

[villgax]

TURN servers is whats needed in those situations

[u8080]

Yes, indeed, it is still possible. Right now RKN introducing new DPI capabilities at TSPU(govt filtering hw/sw stack mandated at ISP) - proactive host probing/scanning and mandate for russian services to check and report VPN users hosts. I.e. you use e-shop app and it will report you Nehterlands VPS IP if detected, including split-tunneling tricks)

[comonoid]

"If you are not in prison yet, it is not your merit, but our failure." -- attributed to Felix Dzerzhinsky.

Upd: are they able to use VPN when the Internet is in so-called "white-list mode" where only certain websites are available?

[Insimwytim]

> attributed to Felix Dzerzhinsky

You can attribute it to George Washington or Louis XIV with the same level of verifiability/veracity.

[comonoid]

English is not my native language, but I believe "attributed" does imply unverifiability. Otherwise other word is used.

[HowTheStoryEnds]

Won't they just be able to identify the traffic at his local internet provider as being suitable for a VPN usage match and send 'law enforcement' over?

[sandmn]

It's cat and mouse game, VPN providers have to constantly update their protocol after being blocked by DPI.

[khriss]

I'm sure you're able to drive faster than the speed limit as well. The issue isn't whether technical circumvention is in the realm of possibility. The base issue here is that even so called 'democratic' governments seem to be copying the authoritarian playbook when it comes to cracking down on privacy online.

[0-_-0]

How about next year?

[Ey7NFZ3P0nzAe]

Do they sleep well at night?