Security News > 2022 > March > BBC points Russians to the Tor version of itself

Russia has reportedly blocked access to Western media outlets including the BBC to netizens within its borders, as suspicions rise that the country has begun implementing a "Splinternet" plan to seal itself off from the wider internet.

These frequencies can be received clearly in Kyiv and parts of Russia.

Roskomnadzor's "News" page is full of demands for mainly US-owned social media sites to stop blocking Russian news and disinformation agencies such as Russia Today.

As for Russia's wider internet blocking ambitions, while concrete facts are hard to come by, Russia and similarly-minded authoritarian countries have been quietly building so-called splinternets - local firewalled versions of the internet - for years.

The idea behind Runet is that internet-dependent services in Russia can continue functioning while non-Russian resources are blocked altogether.

If Russia does enable Runet, not only will its population immediately notice loss of connectivity with Western-hosted services, they will also have to turn to Tor - a modern form of samizdat - for reliable news and information.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/03/04/russia_splinternet_tor_rumours/