Public backlash is growing in Russia in response to Moscow’s efforts to tighten control over the internet.
The government in recent months has imposed restrictions including blocking or throttling popular apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, and YouTube.
More ordinary Russians are starting to speak out, in a rare chorus of dissent. VPN app downloads in the country increased 14-fold in March, a Russian business outlet reported.
President Vladimir Putin has looked to do damage control in the last week, but has largely stayed out of the debate over the unpopular bans.
The pushback is nearing an inflection point, a Carnegie expert wrote, but may only make Moscow’s security agencies more hardline; the Kremlin’s efforts to create “full-spectrum internet surveillance” will likely expand, Jamestown wrote.