Russians are snapping up second-hand smartphones and VPNs amid increased internet censorship — Reuters
In Russia, demand for secondary smartphones and VPN services is surging amid an unprecedented tightening of internet controls ahead of the parliamentary elections.
Due to the new restrictions, citizens are increasingly separating their personal lives and use of government services across different devices.
According to Reuters, Russian authorities are actively promoting the state-run MAX app as an alternative to Western platforms. At the same time, many users fear potential surveillance by security services, so they install such apps on separate phones. Some even disable the cameras and microphones on those devices.
Amid the blockades, the popularity of VPNs has skyrocketed. In just one month, Russians downloaded over 9 million VPN apps, which is 14 times more than last year.
The situation is complicated by regular mobile internet outages, which the authorities explain as countermeasures against Ukrainian drones. During widespread outages in Moscow, sales of paper maps more than doubled, while banks, delivery services, and online stores faced serious difficulties.
Source: Reuters.
Internet restrictions were imposed in the Moscow regionahead of May 9.
As a reminder, mobile internet has gone down again in St. Petersburg.
