VPN Demand in Russia Skyrockets After Facebook, Instagram Block

Instagram access was cut in Russia on Monday in response to Meta's decision to allow posts such as "Death to the Russian invaders".

By Reuters | Updated: 15 March 2022 10:28 IST

VPN Demand in Russia Skyrockets After Facebook, Instagram Block

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

VPNs demand spiked 2,088 percent higher than the daily average demand in February

Highlights

Russia is battling to control the flow of information
Demand for VPNs had already been on the rise in the region
Russia banned several VPNs last year

As Russia blocked access to Meta Platforms Inc's flagship social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram, demand from internet users for tools to skirt the restrictions skyrocketed, data from a monitoring firm showed.

Instagram access in Russia was cut from Monday in response to Meta's decision last week to allow social media users in Ukraine to post messages such as "Death to the Russian invaders". Facebook was already banned over what Moscow said were restrictions on access to Russian media there.

On the eve of the Instagram ban, demand for Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that encrypt data and obscure where a user is located spiked 2,088 percent higher than the daily average demand in mid-February, data from monitoring firm Top10VPN showed.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

Russia has been targeted by unprecedented western sanctions over its actions in Ukraine and is battling to control the flow of information, stifling foreign social media firms with traffic slowdowns and, in the case of Facebook and Instagram, outright bans.

Demand for VPNs had already been on the rise in the region as Russian and Ukrainian websites fell victim to cyber attacks.

Russia banned several VPNs last year, but has failed to block them entirely, as part of a wider campaign critics say stifles internet freedom.

Meta Defends Policy on Calls for Violence That Angered Russia

Top10VPN's data analysis of more than 6,000 entries to Russia's central registry of blocked websites found that 203 news sites and 97 foreign exchange and crypto sites are currently blocked in Russia.

State communications regulator Roskomnadzor on Monday said the number of cyber attacks against the IT systems and infrastructure of the Russian government had sharply increased since February 24.

It warned perpetrators that cyber attacks may lead to criminal consequences.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

This week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, we dive into Apple's Peek Performance event. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.