Prensa. voanews.com
Russia's parliament passed a bill to outlaw the use of virtual private
networks, or VPNs, and other Internet proxy services, citing concerns about the
spread of extremist materials. The State Duma on Friday unanimously passed a
bill that would oblige Internet providers to block websites that offer VPN
services. Many Russians use VPNs to access blocked content by routing
connections through servers outside the country.
The lawmakers behind the bill argued that the move could help to enforce
Russia's ban on disseminating extremist content online. The bill has to be
approved at the upper chamber of parliament and signed by the president before
it comes into effect. Russian authorities have been cracking down on Internet
freedoms in recent years. Among other things they want Internet companies to
store privacy data on Russian servers.
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