Russia testing ‘sovereign internet’ on Muslim minority

Russia has disrupted access to popular websites and messaging apps in several Muslim-majority regions as it continues testing a national alternative to the global internet.

Internet disruptions were reported in several Russian republics with Muslim-majority populations, including Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia – all part of Russia’s North Caucasus federal district.

Residents in these republics were unable to access foreign websites and online services, such as YouTube and Google, as well as messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, according to the US-based non-profit Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which monitors military and geopolitical developments in Russia, Ukraine, and the Middle East.

Issues were also reported with accessing some domestic services, including those provided by the Russian internet giant Yandex. The services were inaccessible even when using virtual private networks, or VPNs, the reports said.

According to NetBlocks, which tracks global network connectivity, the disruptions in Dagestan lasted up to 24 hours.

ℹ️ Note: Metrics show the disruption and restoration of connectivity in Dagestan, #Russia, following what telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor has described as a trial of its capacity to disable access to the foreign internet in a specific region; incident duration ~24 hours pic.twitter.com/7iYtDcVtSG

undefined NetBlocks (@netblocks) December 7, 2024

It was reported last month that Russia’s censorship body Roskomnadzor would conduct “routine” tests in December to disconnect the Russian internet, also known as RuNet, from the global network.

Roskomnadzor said that the exercises would only take place in “certain regions” and should not affect the wider population, according to Meduza, an independent Russian outlet.

The censors confirmed last week they were carrying out tests to ensure that “key replacement infrastructure” can function if the Russian internet is disconnected from the global network.

However, these tests appear to be primarily targeting regions dominated by ethnic or religious minorities.

“Roskomnadzor likely intended in part to test its ability to successfully disconnect Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia – Russian federal subjects with Muslim-majority populations and recent histories of instability – from services like Telegram in order to control the information space in the event of instability in the future,” the ISW said in its analysis.

The Russian authorities previously attempted to disconnect users in Dagestan from Telegram during the antisemitic riots in November 2023. It also blocked internet access in the Far East republic of Sakha, as well as Bashkortostan in the southern Urals, during protests there in January this year.

What does sovereign internet mean?

The so-called sovereign internet law passed in Russia in late 2019 and seeks to shield the country from being cut off from foreign infrastructure, or what Roskomnadzor describes as “deliberate external interference.”

However, free speech and digital rights activists say that legislation is a tool of censorship, as it tightens Moscow’s control over the global network and strengthens the government’s oversight of the country’s cyberspace.

The law requires the Russian internet isolation drills to take place at least once a year. Several widespread internet outages in early 2024 were linked to these drills, with exercises also reported in 2019, 2021, and 2023.

The Kremlin has recently invested roughly 59 billion rubles ($576 million) into developing capabilities to restrict internet traffic, according to Russian-language Forbes.

Roskomnadzor also indicated it may force Russians to migrate their websites from Western hosting providers to Russian hosting providers to better enforce Russian censorship laws. Last week, it warned it could block eight foreign web service hosting providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), GoDaddy, and HostGator for “non-compliance” with Russian laws.

“Roskomnadzor has previously issued such warnings ahead of blocking Western websites and online services likely to test the reaction to these blocks before implementing them and pressure Russians to switch to domestic, Kremlin-approved and -controlled platforms and services,” the ISW said.

Roskomsvoboda, a Russian digital rights group, stated that the move marks a “new stage in Russian online censorship.” It warned that many popular apps and websites could cease functioning if the measure is implemented.