At a conference on the current Ukraine-Russia crisis, Nato leaders will gather for an emergency summit in Brussels, during which US President Joe Biden will visit the alliance and authorize a major increase in Eastern European troops at a conference on the current Ukraine-Russia crisis.
Currently, a single point of discussion has emerged: Russia has forced Google to release more than 36K URLs linked to VPN services, according to a new study from Surfshark. In the first week of the attack, there was a slight increase of only 7 percent when it comes to applications aimed at removing VPN-related URLs.
However, things took a turn for the worse during the second week of the attack when the Russian government announced the closure of various Western social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, and some have since left due to the “fake news” law. Similar effects were seen on Google news and trends.
While Western governments and businesses have imposed sanctions on Russia, saying they will no longer be able to sell their products or allow Russian citizens to use their services, VPN downloads by Russian citizens have increased significantly.
A Surge in VPN sales
Despite Western governments and businesses imposing sanctions on Russia and announcing that their products and services will no longer be available to Russian citizens, the number of Russians downloading VPNs has increased significantly.
In fact, according to Surfshark’s internal data, the VPN provider has seen a 3,500 percent increase in sales compared to before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Even if Russia decides to end its invasion of Ukraine today, the Kremlin will likely continue to block access to the Internet and Western media, meaning that VPN services will remain the only way for Russian citizens to access impartial information and communicate with others on earth.
Ban on Google news
Following the Russia-Ukraine disaster, Google News became the latest major blockchain service in the country. A Russian media administrator has restricted Google News.
He is accusing the company of spreading wrong and prejudiced information about Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
The decision came at the request of Russia’s Attorney General’s Office, according to a statement from Russia’s media director, Roskomnadzor, as reported by several organizations.
Google commented as Extremists
The Russian regulator’s announcement comes after last week’s demanding that Google stop allowing the distribution of threats on YouTube that are not terrorist and endanger the lives of Russian citizens.
As Moscow attempts to maintain control over the conflict narrative, similar geoblocking will almost certainly be extended to other major networks.
It is difficult to present the conflict as a “special task” “when Google News gives access to Russia’s NATO casualties.” Rob Nicholls, an associate professor of administration and governance at the University of New South Wales’ Business School, told Al Jazeera that the Google News ban shows the significant influence and access to the service.
Conclusion
Russia’s intervention in Ukraine began on February 24. Since then, the Russian government has tightened its grip on online information.
It is one of the last places in the world to speak freely. Swinburne University of Technology’s Belinda Barnet teaches digital communications and technology as a senior lecturer of the department.
Barnet said the decision was in line with Vladimir Putin’s goal of “strict control over the record that reaches Russian citizens.”
“He has not been very successful in controlling global accountability – due to the actions of platforms like Google blocking Kremlin-linked stores – but he still has the power of his local media,” Barnet said. “So digital media forums like Google are a threat to that control. This is not surprising. ”
Read More: The Role of Cryptocurrencies in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict
