So far, Moscow‘s everyday life has been fully digitalized. But now the authorities are repeatedly switching off the mobile internet – ostensibly for security reasons. Citizens now have to return to old habits.
He carries a satellite dish on his back, routers are strapped around his legs and he holds an antenna in his hand: This is how the Russian comedian Kuruchbro appears in search of the Internet. In a video he posted on Instagram, he makes fun of the current situation in Russia.
But for many people it’s not funny at all. In any case, only those who have internet and can bypass the block on social media can see the clip. Signal, WhatsApp, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube and Facebook have long only worked in Russia if you bypass the block using a VPN.
But the authorities are also increasingly successful in suppressing the tunnels to the free Internet; Advertising for VPN programs is prohibited. Thousands of websites are blocked, especially those of independent media and human rights organizations.
Moscow’s center paralyzed
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Now the state is going one step further: it is repeatedly switching off the mobile internet. This has been experimenting with in the regions for a long time, and now it is also affecting Moscow.
No internet on your cell phone – what that means in a fully digitalized city only becomes clear when it happens: Taxi drivers can no longer be ordered via an app or they get lost because they can no longer navigate through Moscow digitally. The demand for radios and printed city maps has risen sharply.
Paying with a card or cell phone often doesn’t work either. A couple in downtown Moscow said they tried this for twenty minutes and then left the store without shopping. Many people in Moscow are switching back to cash.
Russian newspapers write that in just five days of the blockade, Moscow companies lost the equivalent of more than 50 million euros.
Official reason: “Security concerns”
Almost all communication via cell phones keeps breaking down because many Russians use apps to make calls that only work via the mobile Internet.
The entire situation in Russia is very difficult to master and very sad, says student Anton: “It’s intimidating. But what can we do?” He can imagine why the mobile internet is being switched off, but talking about it is not safe.
In a pedestrian zone in Moscow, Anastassia explains that she actually comes from Belgorod, a city near the border with Ukraine that is under heavy fire: “I would rather live without the Internet. I would rather stay without a connection, but can live in peace – without air alarms and without screaming.”
She says exactly what the Kremlin says: Shutting down the mobile internet serves national security. Security from drones, some suspect. But they continue to fly. There was a temporary shutdown at Saint Petersburg airport on Monday due to a drone attack.
Anti-Internet-Song im State television
The children’s ensemble from Volgograd appeared on Russian state television in red and white costumes, the girls with bows in their hair. They sang an anti-internet song: “We don’t want that, you can’t find us online. We’re not on your internet,” goes the refrain.
“How convenient that we have already developed our own internet and apps,” the Kremlin could add to the song. The Russian government’s goal is for people in Russia to only use applications that the state can control.
The state offers an alternative
This also includes Messenger MAX, which was developed on behalf of the state. Critics fear that the domestic secret service is reading across the board.
Millions of Russians are already using it to pay their bills or can only book appointments with authorities via MAX. People in households or parents whose children go to school have to install it to get information.
While the Internet is switched off, people in Russia can still access websites: government websites and emergency services, as well as the post office and trains, are on the so-called whitelist. And also media – but only those that are regulated by the state.
In the future, only verified Russian content may be available on the mobile Internet. In some places, demos against the network closures have been registered – whether they can actually take place remains to be seen.