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Ban on advertising VPN services to take effect on March 1 — media watchdog

Earlier, media outlets reported that VPN services will be prohibited in Russia starting March 1

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. A ban on advertising VPN services will go into effect on March 1, a source in the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) told TASS responding to reports on the VPN ban.

"In accordance with the law, any tools that allow bypassing blocked or illegal content have been banned in Russia starting February 2020. VPN services fall under such tools if access to illegal resources is not limited when they are applied," the watchdog said.

Access to files promoting such tools will be restricted starting March 1, 2024, the service noted.

Earlier, media outlets reported citing the head of the Safe Internet League Ekaterina Mizulina that VPN services will be prohibited in Russia starting March 1. Mizulina called such publications a misrepresentation of her words when speaking with TASS.

Earlier, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media developed criteria for blocking websites with information about ways to gain access to banned resources in Russia.

It became known last September that the Digital Development Ministry proposed to give Roskomnadzor the authority to block VPN services.

In late July 2023, President Vladimir Putin signed a law stipulating that those websites that provide information about how to bypass blocked resources in Russia should be included in the Unified Register of Prohibited Information of the watchdog.