The “sovereignization” of the Runet is happening quite intensively, but it cannot be said that Russia is ready to completely disconnect from the outside world, according to Sargis Darbinyan, the head of legal practice at Roskomsvoboda. “There is still the banking sector, international trade—they still communicate with the world, and they need an internet connected to the global network for that. However, these channels are narrowing, and there is less interaction between users and foreign services.”

“Humanity is losing the internet”

All countries are attempting to regulate the internet, experts say. There is no complete freedom anywhere, Shkittin emphasizes. Darbinyan also mentions internet censorship worldwide, saying that even countries in the European Union resort to blocking various resources: “For instance, the Baltic countries not only block websites related to Russian propaganda but sometimes indiscriminately block everything without proper assessment. While this issue is most strongly felt in countries with authoritarian regimes, Iran has more similarities with China and Turkmenistan than with the Baltic countries or Latin America. Nevertheless, the problem undeniably exists. Humanity is gradually losing the internet as a unified global platform accessible from all corners of the world due to the implementation of various restrictions.”

Furthermore, Darbinyan reminds about the proposal from European Parliamentarians to ban end-to-end encryption, which could affect a significant number of resources, such as messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. Shkittin notes that every country, even the most democratic one, has made attempts to restrict numerous aspects of the internet:

https://theins.ru/en/society/263062

 

THE ELITE DO NOT WANT SERFS TO HAVE ACCESS TO UN-CONTROLLED NON-NARRATIVE SUPPORTING INFORMATION — HENCE THE MOVE TO SHUT DOWN THE INTERNET TO ORDINARY PEOPLE